Fish Science - Haddock and Directon

//Haddock Larvae//

Oceans, rivers and everything that lives in water are fascinating feats of nature that I’m often curious to know more about. Fish live all over and a particular study published a few months back discovered just how Haddock are able to navigate within the sea. Nature has no reliance on technology and it is the understanding of nature that can lead to inspire modern day technology. Atlantic haddock were the focus of the study and noted that larvae of the fish were able to navigate the ocean based on magnetic polarity.

//Population and Direction//

To confirm this theory, magnetic tests were conducted to observe if the direction of travel of the larvae would adjust when direction of the magnetic signature of the northwest was manipulated. So what purpose does this all have? Haddock is widely consumed fish and ranks supremely high in a number of recipes across different markets. As with any highly consumed source, stock levels are very important to monitor and understand. Sustainable consumption is an important part of food sourcing today, pricing levels and regulation aim to protect the species from a state of population decline. Understanding early stages of life is just a part of supporting a healthy supply, while it may seem like a commercial orientated project it is a responsible course of action to ensure that no permanent damage be caused from consumption of the fish.

//Internal Sense of Direction//

Scientists concluded that larvae made use of an internal compass that would allow them to navigate. This is a trait of natural survival as the direction drifts them towards conditions that yield higher chance of survival. Understanding this, scientists can monitor likely paths all year round and identify potential issues that could affect stocking levels of haddock, issuing warnings and perhaps even bans if required.

Human intervention using science and technology to protect population may be the next step scientists look into but it’s simply fascinating to understand that such complex survival mechanics are contained within fish from such a young age. While the findings are fascinating they are not definitive as the sample size has been noted to be relatively small and findings could be influenced by a number of factors such as temperature, sample size and other influential measures.

Sources
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(19)30338-4