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Age and growth of marine three-spined stickleback in the White Sea 50 years after a population collapse

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Abstract

In the early 1960s, the population of White Sea marine three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a key forage fish, declined drastically, and the species almost completely disappeared from catches. The population started to recover in the late 1990s, and its abundance has increased exponentially since then. Using contemporary and historical data, we contrast the age structure of spawning stock and fish growth before and after the population decline. Most stickleback spawners in 2009–2011 were 2 and 3 years old, with the 3-year-old fish being more abundant. The proportion of 2-year-old fish in recent catches is higher than that 50 years ago, indicating some rejuvenation of the population after the prolonged decline. Moreover, White Sea sticklebacks in the present population grow faster than those in the 1950s. The observed shifts are concurrent with the long-term changes in the temperature regime in the coastal areas of the White Sea, which determine zooplankton abundance and the duration of the feeding season of fish. The variation in life-history traits among both anadromous and marine stickleback populations within a distribution range was examined. The stickleback showed a considerable interpopulation variation in growth, longevity and age/size at maturity, which appeared generally related to thermal conditions at the marine feeding areas.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to our colleagues from the Saint Petersburg University—Dr. Tatiana Ivanova, Dr. Dmitry Lajus and Dr. Mikhail Ivanov—for their assistance in collecting the materials and for providing data on stickleback yearlings. We wish to thank the anonymous referees for valuable suggestions on improving the manuscript. This research was supported by the ongoing projects of the Russian Academy of Sciences, “Ecosystems of the White Sea and the adjacent Arctic seas: biodiversity dynamics under the changing climate” and “Life-history strategies and mechanisms of adaptations in fish and invertebrates in the Arctic seas” and by a RFBR Grant # 14-04-004466 to AS.

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  1. White Sea Biological Station, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Universitetskaya nab., 1, 199034, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Peter Yershov & Alexey Sukhotin

  2. Saint Petersburg State University, Saint Petersburg, Russia

    Alexey Sukhotin

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  1. Peter Yershov
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Correspondence to Peter Yershov.

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Yershov, P., Sukhotin, A. Age and growth of marine three-spined stickleback in the White Sea 50 years after a population collapse. Polar Biol 38, 1813–1823 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1743-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1743-7

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