The herring is an integral part of Icelandic history and has always been commercially important. The Atlantic herring is the focus of Jed Ian Macdonald’s doctoral research in Biology. Macdonald studies if and how physical and biological factors shape Atlantic herring migration in Icelandic waters, in order to make predictions on how future environmental variability may influence these patterns.
“I wanted to see how fisheries management functions in the North Atlantic, particularly in a country like Iceland whose economy depends so much on fisheries-related industries,” says Macdonald. Atlantic herring is harvested extensively here in Iceland and has a unique history in both socio-economic and ecological contexts. The sudden and often unpredictable shifts observed in herring migration patterns have important consequences for the fishers who target them, the industries that rely on them and the authorities responsible for conserving the stock.
This research will hopefully benefit fishery management and harvest strategies by increasing knowledge on how distribution patterns may alter in response to current and future environmental variability.
“So far, we have linked information on herring occurrence and abundance over the past 30 years to a new ocean model for Icelandic waters, and used mathematical models to define the species’ preferred environmental conditions,” says Macdonald. The next phase of the work involves coupling these models with chemical analysis of herring otoliths (earstones) to hopefully resolve longstanding questions on the degree of connectivity between juvenile nurseries and adult populations.
It is evident that the research is of great importance to Icelandic society and Macdonald points out that in addition, this work will create a strong platform for future socio-economic/ecological studies on the consequences of changing migration patterns in commercially important fishes more generally.
Supervisor: Guðrún Marteinsdóttir Professor at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences
Co-supervisors: Þorsteinn Sigurðsson at the Marine Research Institute, Iceland and Geir Huse at the Institute of Marine Research, Norway
