Loddeundersøkelser i Barentshavet vinteren 1979

From 7 January to 26 April four vessels participated in capelin investigations in the Barents Sea and along the Finnmark coast. In January the immature part of the capelin stock was located northwest in the Barents Sea, with highest concentrations east of Bear Island. The mature part of the stock migrated towards the coast in three different spawning influxes; one that reached the western Finnmark coast in the beginning of February and two that came to the eastern Finnmark coast the 9 and 13 February respectively. The 1975 year-class made up the majority of the spawning stock. Spawning started in the beginning of April and took place mainly off Vardø in eastern Finnmark. The water temperature was about 1°c lower than observed during the same period in 1978. This is a continuation of the gradually cooling of the Barents Sea water masses that has taken place the latest 3-4 years