GROSS, W. L., E, W. ROELOFS, AND P O. FROMM. 



1965. Influence of photoperiod on growth of green sunfish, 

 Lepomis cyanellus. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 22:1379- 

 1386. 

 LUNDQVIST, H. 



1980. Influence of photoperiod on growth in Baltic salmon 

 parr ( Sal mo salar L. i with special reference to the effect of 

 precocious sexual maturation. Can. J. Zool. 58:940-944. 



McCauley, R. w, and l. a. a. Read. 



1973. Temperature selection by juvenile and adult yellow 

 perch (Perca flavescens) acclimated to 24° C. J. Fish. Res. 

 Board Can. 30:1253-1255. 

 MOSER, H. G., AND E. H. AHLSTROM. 



1978. Larvae and pelagic juveniles of blackgill rockfish, 

 Sebastes melanostomus, taken in midwater trawls off 

 southern California and Baja California. J. Fish. Res. 

 Board Can. 35:981-996. 



NiE, N. H., C. H. HULL, J. G. Jenkins, k. Steinbrenner, and 



D. H. BENT. 



1975. Statistical package for the social sciences. 2d 

 ed. McGraw Hill, N.Y„ 675 p. 

 PHILLIPS, J. B. 



1964. Life history studies on ten species of rockfish ( genus 

 Sehastodes). Cahf Dep. Fish Game, Fish Bull. 126, 70 p. 

 REID, J. L.. JR., G. I. RODEN, AND J. G. WYLLIE. 



1958. Studies of the California Current system. Calif 

 Coop. Oceanic Fish. Invest. Prog. Rep. 1 July 1956 to 1 Jan. 

 1958. p. 27-57. 

 STRINGER, G. E., AND W. S. HOAR. 



1955. Aggressive behavior of underyearling Kamloops 

 trout. Can. J. Zool. 33:148-160. 



Taubert, b. D., and D. W. Coble. 



1977. Daily rings in otoliths of three species of Lepomis 



and Tilapia mossamhica. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 



34:332-340. 

 Zamakhaev, D. R 



1964. On the influence of the growth in the first years of life 



on further growth in fish. [In Russ., Engl, summ.] Inst. 



Morsk. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr. (VNIRO), Tr. Vses. 



Nauchno-issled. 50:109-141. (Fish. Res. Board Can., 



Transl. Ser. 549, 39p.) 



George W. boehlert 



School of Oceanography, Oregon State University 

 Marine Science Center 

 Newport, OR 97365 



A CORRELATION BETWEEN ANNUAL CATCHES 



OF DUNGENESS CRAB, CANCER MAGISTER, 



ALONG THE WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA 



AND MEAN ANNUAL SUNSPOT NUMBER 



A recent paper by Driver ( 1978) described the pre- 

 diction of shrimp landings off northwest England 

 based on sunspot activity. Stimulated by this 

 work, we examined the relationship between the 

 Dungeness crab. Cancer magister, commercial 

 fishery off the west coast of North America and 

 mean annual sunspot number. The Dungeness 



crab is commercially important and its fluctuating 

 catch has made it the subject of numerous papers 

 (Reed 1969; Peterson 1973; Botsford and Wickham 

 1975, 1978), some of which noted a distinct rhythm 

 in annual catch. Moreover, Dungeness crab catch 

 statistics are particularly favorable for this study, 

 as it has been estimated that almost every legal 

 crab within the species' range is taken during the 

 commercial season (Pacific Marine Fisheries 

 Commission 1965) and hence there was no need to 

 factor fishing effort into the computations. 



Catch statistics were provided by the Pacific 

 Marine Fisheries Commission and comprise com- 

 mercial landings made in Alaska, British Colum- 

 bia, Washington, Oregon, and California from 

 1955 (the earliest year for which complete records 

 were available) to 1980. We utilized the mean an- 

 nual sunspot values in Waldmeier (1961, 1978) 

 with additional data supplied by Adkins^ and 

 Eddy.^ Data were plotted (Figure 1) and correla- 

 tion coefficients and associated values generated 

 by linear regression (Table 1) for two complete 

 cycles, 1955-64 and 1965-75. 



(0 



i 501- 



Q 



Z ^ 

 <iD 40 

 -> O 



< K 



3 30 

 Z O 

 Z -I 



< " 



_i 20 



o 

 a. 



80 z 



>- 10 



54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 

 YEAR 



FIGURE 1.— Total annual landings of Dungeness crabs off the 

 west coast of North America (TAL) and mean annual sunspot 

 number (SS) for the period 1955 through 1980. 



Table l. — The correlation between commercial Dungeness crab 

 catch and mean annual sunspot number off the west coast of 

 North America. 



Period 



df 



f-ratio 



1 955-64 

 1965-75 



090 

 ,87 



1.8 

 1, 9 



35.3 

 293 



;0.001 

 . .001 



Dungeness crab catches and sunspot numbers 

 both varied in approximately 11-yr cycles and the 

 cycle periods for the two were strongly correlated 



'J. Adkins, Solar Observer, Mt. Wilson and Las Canpanis Ob- 

 servatory 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, Calif, pers. 

 commun. August 1980. 



^J. Eddy High Altitude Observatory, National Center for At- 

 mospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, pers. commun. March 

 1981. 



794 



FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 79, NO. 4. 1981 



