Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture and Living Resources
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1461982
This article is part of the Research Topic Challenges in Fishery Assessment Methodologies View all 6 articles

Analysis of the spatio-temporal variability of spawning mackerel in the Northeast Atlantic

Provisionally accepted
Gersom Costas Gersom Costas 1,2*
  • 1 Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), Madrid, Spain
  • 2 Oceanographic Center of Vigo, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), Vigo, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The northeast Atlantic (NEA) mackerel (Scomber scombrus) is a commercially significant species, 40 with expansive spawning migrations occurring along the continental shelf of northwestern Europe. To 41 identify the main variables influencing the spatial distribution of mackerel eggs, this study analyzed 42 data from egg surveys conducted by the Working Group on Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Surveys 43 (WGMEGS) of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). To achieve this 44 objective, a Random Forest model was used to predict the presence of mackerel eggs based on 45 temporal, geographical, and environmental variables. Applying the Random Forest model to the survey 46data revealed that the main variables affecting mackerel spawning were the bottom depth, latitude, 47 temperature, and salinity. 48 Subsequently, Quotient Analysis was used to determine the optimal ranges of the key variables 49 identified as influencing mackerel spawning. The results demonstrated a clear preference for spawning 50 at depths between 100 m and 200 m, as well as a consistent preference for the area between 43º and 51 44º North, corresponding to the Cantabrian Sea. Furthermore, the results indicated that mackerel 52 exhibited a considerable range of temperature tolerance throughout the spawning process, with a 53 preference for cooler waters in the Western area in recent years. Salinity seems to have an effect on 54 spawning at salinities between 35.0 ppm to 35.5 ppm, but results were imprecise. These results 55 contribute to our understanding of how environmental and geographical variables influence the 56 spawning behavior of NEA mackerel.

    Keywords: mackerel, spawning, random forest, egg survey, Atlantic, Quotient analysis, 37

    Received: 09 Jul 2024; Accepted: 18 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Costas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gersom Costas, Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO), Madrid, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.