Relative contributions of different sole and plaice nurseries to the adultpopulation in the Eastern Channel: application of a combined method using generalized linear models and a geographic information system

The Eastern Channel (ICES division 7d) is considered a unit for stock manag ement of the common sole Solea solea and the plaice Pleuronectes platessa. At this scale, the aim of this work is to model the juvenile distribution o f these flatfish. The database used, based on different surveys undertaken during the two last decades, includes 4500 coastal beam trawl hauls through out the Eastern Channel coasts. Multivariate analyses are used to study the interannual fluctuations in flatfish recruitment of the region. This appro ach allows us to separate the Eastern Channel into homogeneous sectors with regard to these fluctuations. The physical parameters that contribute to t he observed juvenile sole and plaice distributions are identified and their distributions are modelled using generalized linear models. The results of these models, and the areas of the different populations derived from a ge ographic information system, are used to identify the main nursery grounds and to compare their respective importance. This quantitative approach iden tifies the lack of estuarine dependence of the nursery grounds, and highlig hts those areas where anthropogenic disturbance could influence these popul ations. (C) 2001 Ifremer/CNRS/Inra/IRD/Cemagref/Editions scientifiques et m edicales Elsevier SAS.