MATERNAL EFFECTS - A LINK BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE

Variations in growth and condition of female fish change the viability pattern of the offspring. The influence of maternal effects on the re productive potential, and hence recruitment, has gained support during the last decade, both from laboratory experiments and field investiga tions. Since such maternal effects are phenotypic and therefore the re sult of the age/size and condition composition of the spawning populat ion, overfishing will cause the population to move away from its fitne ss peak. For this reason maternal effects are the only recruitment mec hanism which can be directly managed through fishing regulations. This paper reviews the maternal effect of early larval survivorship in the field, in connection with the synchrony idea of J. Hjort and D. Cushi ng. The weak relation between spawning biomass and recruitment has dis credited spawner abundance as a significant predictor of recruitment. Dynamic investigations on the maternal factors and the fecundity can b e used to adjust estimates of spawning biomass. It is expected that th is approach will clarify the significance of the spawning population i n determining the level of recruitment.