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<p>In marine food webs, forage fish act as critical energy links between lower and upper trophic levels and, thus, their conservation and management are essential to ecosystem-based fisheries management. Important forage fish species including capelin <i>Mallotus villosus</i>, Atlantic herring <i>Clupea harengus</i>, and sand lance <i>Ammodytes</i> spp. share similar subtidal habitat associations either during spawning (herring, spring; capelin, summer) or year-round (sand lance burying habitat) in coastal Newfoundland, Canada. We constructed simple habitat suitability models (HSMs) using published species-specific habitat requirements and environmental optima to estimate the spatial extent of suitable structural and spawning/burying habitat for each species at two sites in coastal Newfoundland (≤50&#xa0;m) under current conditions. HSMs were built by overlaying important suitable habitat characteristics (i.e., sediment grain size, marine vegetation, temperature) measured during systematic surveys in two bays (Notre Dame Bay, July 2023; Fortune Bay, May 2024). Suitable structural habitat was more limited for all species in Notre Dame Bay relative to Fortune Bay, and high temperatures nearshore limited suitable spawning/burying habitat availability for capelin and sand lance in Notre Dame Bay. Sand lance burying habitat was limited and patchy in both bays, suggesting sand lance are most vulnerable to coastal habitat degradation or destruction. Although we identified key knowledge gaps needed to refine these simple HSMs (e.g., documenting region- and species-specific habitat associations), our HSMs directly inform spatial planning and management to protect habitat of these important species in coastal Newfoundland.</p>

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Spring and summer habitat availability for key forage fish in coastal Newfoundland, Canada

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月1日

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  • Gibson M. Rieger,
  • Gail K. Davoren

摘要

In marine food webs, forage fish act as critical energy links between lower and upper trophic levels and, thus, their conservation and management are essential to ecosystem-based fisheries management. Important forage fish species including capelin Mallotus villosus, Atlantic herring Clupea harengus, and sand lance Ammodytes spp. share similar subtidal habitat associations either during spawning (herring, spring; capelin, summer) or year-round (sand lance burying habitat) in coastal Newfoundland, Canada. We constructed simple habitat suitability models (HSMs) using published species-specific habitat requirements and environmental optima to estimate the spatial extent of suitable structural and spawning/burying habitat for each species at two sites in coastal Newfoundland (≤50 m) under current conditions. HSMs were built by overlaying important suitable habitat characteristics (i.e., sediment grain size, marine vegetation, temperature) measured during systematic surveys in two bays (Notre Dame Bay, July 2023; Fortune Bay, May 2024). Suitable structural habitat was more limited for all species in Notre Dame Bay relative to Fortune Bay, and high temperatures nearshore limited suitable spawning/burying habitat availability for capelin and sand lance in Notre Dame Bay. Sand lance burying habitat was limited and patchy in both bays, suggesting sand lance are most vulnerable to coastal habitat degradation or destruction. Although we identified key knowledge gaps needed to refine these simple HSMs (e.g., documenting region- and species-specific habitat associations), our HSMs directly inform spatial planning and management to protect habitat of these important species in coastal Newfoundland.