Applied Fisheries Oceanography: Ecosystem Indicators of Ocean Conditions Inform Fisheries Management in the California Current

Abstract

Fisheries oceanography is the study of ecological relationships between fishes and the dynamics of their marine environments and aims to characterize the physical, chemical, and biological factors that affect the recruitment and abundance of harvested species. A recent push within the fisheries management community is toward ecosystem-based management. Here, we show how physical and biological oceanography data can be used to generate indicators of ocean conditions in an ecosystem context, and how these indicators relate to the recruitment of salmonids, sablefish, sardines, and rockfish in the California Current.

Keywords

• fisheries oceanography; California Current; fisheries management; ecosystem-based management