Influence of Particulate Organic Carbon Sedimentation within the Seasonal Sea-ice Regime on the Catch Distribution of Northern Shrimp (<i>Pandalus borealis</i>)

Abstract

A sedimentation model was used to map the distribution of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the Labrador Sea in relation to shrimp (Pandalus borealis) distribution. The model was based on information from sediment traps and ice regimes defined by: ice concentration, duration of ice cover and distance from an ice edge. Initial results from a subset of POC-binned commercial shrimp fishing data resulted in linear regression coefficients between catch per hour and POC of r 2 = 0.926 for 1989 and 0.964 for 1996. Binning the data according to depth resulted in r 2 = 0.995 and 0.948, respectively. Shrimp catch data from research surveys binned by (1) POC, (2) depth and (3) temperature resulted in corresponding r 2 of (1) 0.304, (2) 0.763, (3) 0.745 and (1) 0.535, (2) 0.897 (3) 0.954 for 1996 and 1997, respectively. The results validate the sedimentation model and confirm the importance of POC as food for shrimp. Information on POC distribution determined by sedimentation models has potential applications in shrimp fisheries and research.