G. Akerman et al., COMPARISON OF REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF COD, GADUS-MORHUA, FROM THE BARENTS SEA AND BALTIC SEA, Marine environmental research, 42(1-4), 1996, pp. 139-144
To test the hypothesis that cod do not reproduce normally in the Balti
c Sea, a comparative study using cod from relatively unpolluted areas
in the Barents sea was performed. During the spawning period cod were
caught by trawling, then stripped and fertilised directly on the boat.
The fertilised egg batches were transported to the laboratory immedia
tely, and held under optimal conditions for cod embryo and larval deve
lopment. The data obtained indicates that reproductive success is dram
atically lower in cod from the Baltic Sea compared with those from the
Barents Sea. The disturbances might be correlated to the female indiv
iduals rather than the males. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd