DCV and Fish

Associations between DCV phenomena and fish and crustacean capture data in selected oceans are shown here.  The fish and crustacean capture data are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The data are available from 1961 to 2010.  All capture data are in metric tonnes.

Choose an Ocean to display:

Time series of annual decadal climate variability indices (bars; left scale) and annual fish catch (right scale) from the Atlantic Ocean during 1961 to 2010.  Departures, smoothed by a 3-point moving-window filter, from average production are plotted.  The average production and correlation coefficient between the two smoothed time series are shown; TT –  thousand tonnes.  (a)  Westcentral Atlantic herring and PDO, (b) Northwest Atlantic shrimp and PDO, and (c) Northwest Atlantic herring and TAG.

Time series of annual decadal climate variability indices (bars; left scale) and annual fish catch (right scale) from the Pacific Ocean during 1961 to 2010.  Departures, smoothed by a 3-point moving-window filter, from average production are plotted.  The average production and correlation coefficient between the two smoothed time series are shown; MT – million tonnes.  (a) Northeast Pacific salmon and PDO, (b) Northwest Pacific salmon and PDO, and (c) Central Pacific tuna and PDO.


Time series of annual decadal climate variability indices (bars; left scale) and annual fish catch (right scale) from the Indian Ocean during 1961 to 2010.  Departures, smoothed by a 3-point moving-window filter, from average production are plotted.  The average production and correlation coefficient between the two smoothed time series are shown; MT – million tonnes, TT –  thousand tonnes.  (a) Western Indian shrimp and PDO, and (b) Eastern Indian shrimp and PDO.

Major conclusions of these and other analyses are:
  • The PDO has strong associations with herring, shrimp, salmon, and tuna capture in the multiple regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.
  • The TAG index is strongly associated with herring captured in the northwest Atlantic Ocean.