Adult fish in the Canadian Arctic: ArcticNet 2014-2018

Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) is a widely distributed and abundant fish in the Arctic Ocean that mediate carbon directly from metazoan zooplankton to vertebrate predators of the marine food web. Survival, growth dynamic and feeding success of this key species are closely related to environmental factors such as surface temperature and Arctic sea ice concentration.On the other hand, northward invasions into rapidly warming Arctic marine ecosystems by southern species are occurring at a higher rate than the global average. In many Arctic regions, lower latitude fish species intrusions have and could result in the displacement of this key species, implying major changes in these ecosystems.This study explores the links between spatial and inter-annual differences in biological data of adult fish and their changing habitat. One of its goal is to document the abundance and distribution of the fish communities found in the Arctic, with the ultimate objective to participate in developing models of the impacts of the on-going reduction of sea-ice on the trophic web of the Arctic.