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Broad-scale
egg samples for both cod
and haddock have been
processed
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to consider
possible maternal influence on egg viability, assuming
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increased egg
size may reflect better condition and overall viability. No
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indication
was found that interannual variation in egg calculated mortality
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rates
was related to variation in egg size. The eggs were also staged and
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seasonal egg
mortality rates for both species were calculated for each
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year of
sampling. The mortality rates
varied by a factor of two over the
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duration of
the program. Comparisons with time series of the local wind
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stress suggest
that the variability in egg
mortality was caused by
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variations
in wind-driven off-bank transport during the periods of peak
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egg
abundance. A particle tracking model, using both the
observed
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winds and the
observed egg distributions, indicates a seasonal loss of
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eggs
consistent with the calculated egg mortality rates.
Both the
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interannual
variability in the winds and in the egg distributions appear
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important
in determining the interannual variability in the egg mortality
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rates.
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