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Cited by 548Marine and fisheries researchFish Ecology and Management StudiesMarine animal studies overview

Worldwide large-scale fluctuations of sardine and anchovy populations

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Schwartzlose, R. A., Alheit, J., Bakun, A., Baumgartner, T. R., Cloete, R., Crawford, R. J. M., Fletcher, W. J., Green-Ruiz, Y. +13 more·1999·South African Journal of Marine Science
DOI 10.2989/025776199784125962
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Abstract

Decade-scale regimes of sardine Sardinops sagax and anchovy Engraulis spp. have been observed in the productive coastal waters of the North-Western, North-Eastern and South-Eastern Pacific and the South-Eastern Atlantic. In each of these systems, the two genera fluctuate out of phase with each other. The subdominant genus may initiate a recovery while the other species is still abundant, so population growth is not necessarily a response to a vacant niche. Rather, it appears to be triggered by formation of one or a few powerful year-classes. At high population levels, quality of sardine and their eggs decreased in Japan, leading to decreased production and survival of eggs, poor year-classes and stock collapse. Excessive fishing of strong year-classes early in the recovery stage may prevent a species from assuming dominance, so influencing the natural succession of species. This may greatly alter the structure and functioning of an ecosystem. For example, a mesopelagic forage fish may replace an epipelagic one, with severe repercussions for predators that can only feed in the upper ocean, e.g. some seabirds. Biological factors also may influence the succession of forage fish. For example, off California, peaks in abundance of predatory species such as bonita Sarda, and chub mackerel Scomber, separate those of the planktivorous sardine and anchovy. In the Pacific Ocean, sardine distribution has change greatly. Compared with its range when scarce, a population at a high level of biomass can extend 1 000–1 800 miles farther along the coast and 400–2 200 miles farther out to sea. In different periods of high biomass, sardine did not always have the same distribution. In the 1930s and 1940s, near simultaneous fluctuations of sardine in the North-Western and North-Eastern Pacific were in phase. In the 1980s and 1990s, sardine in the North-Western and South-Eastern Pacific were fluctuating in phase. However, along the west coast of North America, sardine started their most recent increase later than in other regions of the Pacific Ocean. This increase is continuing, whereas sardine populations in the North-Western and South-Eastern Pacific have decreased both in catch and geographic distribution since the late 1980s. Therefore, the North-Eastern Pacific has moved out of phase with other major Pacific sardine populations. This may be because abundance of sardine in the California Current has not yet reached a level at which density-dependent effects exert a major influence. Sardine and anchovy in the South-Eastern Atlantic have been out of phase with populations in the Pacific Ocean, especially those off Peru and Chile. Over the last 300 years, episodic fisheries for Bohuslän herring Clupea harengus in Sweden coincide with periods of high anchovy abundance off California. Near simultaneous fluctuations of fish stocks in widely separated regions support the view that they are sometimes influenced by climate operating at a global scale. Changes of the gyre-scale circulation seem to be major factors in the decadal climate. In Australia, sardine have a wide range, but the less productive waters support a much lower biomass than is found in the other four systems. Engraulis occur in some systems from which Sardinops are absent, for example, Brazil, where they and Sardinella are segregated vertically in the water column.

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  • Fluctuations in small pelagic fish abundance have top-down and bottom-up effects and serve as a key trophic control for higher trophic-level seabirds, marine mammals, and commercially important fish.

    “These small pelagic fish species often comprise a substantial portion of the total animal biomass in EBUS, and fluctuations in their abundance have both top-down and bottom-up effects [5], serving as a key trophic control for large populations of higher trophic-level seabirds, marine mammals, and a variety of commercially important fish.”

    From Anticipated Effects of Climate Change on Coastal Upwelling Ecosystems (2015) · cites this paper as [5]

    In “Consequences for Ecosystem Functioning,” the paper describes sardine and anchovy as a link between plankton and predators and says abundance shifts may affect both lower and higher trophic levels. “Impacts on seabirds” gives examples of effects on birds. The cited passages do not establish the claim’s more specific trophic-control role for marine mammals or commercially important predatory fish, and the paper frames the broader effects as expected rather than established in every case. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Small pelagic fish species often comprise a substantial portion of the total animal biomass in eastern boundary upwelling systems.

    “These small pelagic fish species often comprise a substantial portion of the total animal biomass in EBUS, and fluctuations in their abundance have both top-down and bottom-up effects [5], serving as a key trophic control for large populations of higher trophic-level seabirds, marine mammals, and a variety of commercially important fish.”

    From Anticipated Effects of Climate Change on Coastal Upwelling Ecosystems (2015) · cites this paper as [5]

    The South-Eastern Pacific section describes very large sardine and anchovy catches in the Humboldt system, and Consequences for Ecosystem Functioning says a few forage-fish species can dominate energy transfer. Neither passage establishes what proportion of total animal biomass these fish comprise across eastern boundary upwelling systems. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 36

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Authors
Schwartzlose, R. A., Alheit, J., Bakun, A., Baumgartner, T. R., Cloete, R., Crawford, R. J. M., Fletcher, W. J., Green-Ruiz, Y., Hagen, E., Kawasaki, T., Lluch-Belda, D., Lluch-Cota, S. E., MacCall, A. D., Matsuura, Y., Nevárez-Martínez, M. O., Parrish, R. H., Roy, C., Serra, R., Shust, K. V., Ward, M. N., & Zuzunaga, J. Z.
Affiliations
Scripps Institution of Oceanography (US)
ORCID
Venue
South African Journal of Marine Science
Publisher
National Inquiry Services Center (NISC)
Published
1999-06
Volume
21
Issue
1
Pages
289-347
ISSN
0257-7615 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.2989/025776199784125962
OpenAlex
W2152846356
Cited by
548
References
68
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 23
FWCI
10.74
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
South African Journal of Marine Science (publishedVersion)
Funders
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Marine and fisheries research
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Fish Ecology and Management Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
Keywords
sardine, anchovy, Sardinops sagax, population fluctuations, species succession, year-class strength, stock collapse, forage fish, predator-prey interactions, seabirds, Northeast Pacific, western North Pacific, Southeast Pacific, California coast, fisheries management, planktivory

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