Herring fisheries in the White Sea in the 18th-beginning of the 20th Centuries: Spatial and temporal patterns and factors affecting the catch fluctuations

Herring catches showed considerable short-term fluctuations. Assumed reasons for these were biological and physical factors. Among biological factors are fluctuations in size of herring populations, migration of herring schools which make herring available or unavailable for inshore fisheries. And among physical ones are meteorological influences such as wind forces and waves, ice conditions, air temperature, and social pressures, such as market demands and availability of salt and barrels. Accounting for these factors allows for better analysis of long-term trends. Currently our analyses of long-term trends revealed (i) positive relationship between catch size and human population in the area, likely reflecting an increase of fishing effort, and (ii) no relationship between catches and temperature in Western Europe. The latter can be explained by specific climate variation in the White Sea area and high short-term variability of catches.