Capelin on the rebound: Using seabird diets to track trends in forage fish populations
Delta Sound Connections
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Abstract
Capelin are cold-water forage fish that respond rapidly to fluctuating ocean temperatures. They are prized food for seabirds and other marine predators in Alaska. Researchers have monitored seabird diets at Middleton Island for decades to make connections between changes in abundance of predators and their prey. During a prolonged marine heatwave in the Gulf of Alaska, seabird diets and limited trawl surveys showed that capelin populations collapsed from record high abundance during the 2007–2013 cool period (Hatch 2013) to record lows in 2016 (Arimitsu et al. 2021). Capelin occurrence in diets had previously oscillated out of phase with Pacific sand lance numbers during cold and warm years (Sydeman et al. 2017), however, the occurrence of both prey species in seabird diets fell below average during 2014–2022 (Fig. 1). Following a period of cooler ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska, during 2023 we began to see signs of capelin stock recovery, with a moderate increase in occurrence in spring and summer seabird diets (Fig. 1, Hatch et al. 2023). Continued monitoring of seabird diets can help track capelin populations and other key forage fish to inform ecosystem-based management in 2024 and beyond.
Suggested Citation
Arimitsu, M.L., Marsteller, C.E., Piatt, J., Hatch, S., Wheland, S., 2024, Capelin on the rebound: Using seabird diets to track trends in forage fish populations: Delta Sound Connections, v. 2024-'25.
Study Area
| Publication type | Newsletter |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Newsletter |
| Title | Capelin on the rebound: Using seabird diets to track trends in forage fish populations |
| Series title | Delta Sound Connections |
| Volume | 2024-'25 |
| Year Published | 2024 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Prince William Sound Science Center |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center Ecosystems |
| Description | 1 p. |
| First page | 6 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Other Geospatial | Gulf of Alaska |