Dow, R.L. 1978. Effects of climate cycles on the rela- 

 tive abundance and availability of commer ical mar- 

 ket and estuarine species. J. Cons. 37:274-380. 



Correlated higher than mean annual sea tem- 

 peratures with higher numbers of species in 

 commercial fish landings; in colder than mean 

 years the number of species declined. Both 

 extreme high and low years were associated 

 with commercial extinction of several previ- 

 ously important species. "A highly signifi- 

 cant coefficient of correlation between sea 

 surface temperature and total annual catch 

 indicates that sea temperature is probably 

 the principle factor influencing the volumes, 

 since neither changes in fishing effort or 

 market conditions were adequate to account to 

 the magnitude of annual fluctuations in vol- 

 ume." Author concluded that sea surface tem- 

 perature had been a principle environmental 

 regulator of species abundance and avail- 

 ability. Dependence on sea surface 

 temperature, etc., cycles for abundance makes 

 management of fisheries difficult. 



KEY WORDS: temperature, environment, abun- 

 dance, distribution, seasons. 



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