Impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on the trans-Atlantic migrations of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla)

Kettle, A. James, Bakker, Dorothee C. E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9234-5337 and Haines, Keith (2008) Impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation on the trans-Atlantic migrations of the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Journal of Geophysical Research G: Biogeosciences, 113 (3).

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Abstract

Glass eel catches and FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) landings of the European freshwater eel (Anguilla anguilla) show a decrease over the past 20 years. The long-term trends in the time series mask an interannual fluctuation, which becomes apparent on the application of a high-pass filter and autocorrelation analysis. Both the FAO landings and the glass eel catches show interannual fluctuations with a repeat period of 6–8 years, similar to the period of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Most glass eel catch monitoring stations are in phase. The glass eel catches show a significant negative correlation with the NAO lagged by 0–2 years, consistent with the hypothesis that the positive NAO phase has an adverse impact on the larval survival in and migration from the Sargasso Sea spawning location, one year prior to the arrival of the glass eels in Europe and North Africa. The FAO landings can be divided into two groups of different phase that have an approximate correspondence to the NAO dipole in winter rainfall in Europe and North Africa. One group (P) comprises Denmark, Ireland, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom, and the other group (N) comprises France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Turkey. At least for the interannual fluctuations, the success of the glass eel fishery (and eel recruitment) may be coupled with the number of migrating silver eels from the N group of countries and uncoupled with the P group of countries.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 14 - life below water ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Centre for Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Climate, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (former - to 2017)
Depositing User: Rosie Cullington
Date Deposited: 25 Feb 2011 12:15
Last Modified: 20 Mar 2024 10:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/24737
DOI: 10.1029/2007JG000589

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