SURVIVAL - Assessing the impact of hydrodynamical forcing on the survival of small pelagic fish early life stages of western Iberia

It has been observed that the recruitment of several small pelagic fish (SPF) species off the Western Iberian coast has been decreasing in the last decades.

Analysis of wind fields over the North Atlantic and current-meter data of the Portuguese coastal waters revealed that changes are occurring in the typical patterns of the Western Iberian Peninsula Current System. Those changes are characterized by increasingly frequent upwelling events during winter, which is also the spawning period of several SPF species in that ecosystem. The onset of upwelling during the spawning period may drastically change the circulation pattern in which fish eggs and larvae grow, and that may affect their survival.