Atlantic Cod Gadus morhua, which are overfished in the United States, are potentially vulnerable to disturbance from offshore wind energy (OWE) construction and operation during their spawning period. While many aspects of Atlantic Cod biology are well studied, little is known of their habitat use and spawning behavior at the extreme southern extent of the species' range. As Atlantic Cod form dense spawning aggregations and produce sounds associated with courtship behaviors, we used a combination of fixed-station and glider-based passive acoustic monitoring methods to evaluate the spatiotemporal spawning dynamics of Atlantic Cod in the Georges Bank stock. Additionally, we assessed potential interactions with OWE in designated offshore wind lease areas within southern New England waters of the western North Atlantic Ocean. Generalized linear modeling was used to evaluate correlations between cod grunt activity and multiple environmental cycles. Results from the southern New England spawning grounds were compared to similar data describing the geographically separated Massachusetts Bay winter-spawning subpopulation within the western Gulf of Maine stock. Temporal patterns in Atlantic Cod grunts suggest that spawning in southern New England waters is concentrated in November and December and is greatest near the new and full moons. Although there were fine-scale differences in the temporal dynamics of grunt presence between the two regions, the overall seasonality of inferred spawning was similar. Results suggest that Atlantic Cod spawning in southern New England overlaps with planned OWE construction in time and space. An understanding of cod spawning phenology in the western North Atlantic can be used to minimize disturbance to spawning through limiting construction timelines and consideration of turbine or cable placement.

中文翻译：

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比较跨生物地理边界的大西洋鳕鱼时间产卵动态：来自被动声学监测的见解

大西洋鳕鱼，在美国过度捕捞，在产卵期间可能容易受到海上风能 (OWE) 建设和运营的干扰。虽然大西洋鳕鱼生物学的许多方面都得到了很好的研究，但对其在该物种分布范围最南端的栖息地利用和产卵行为知之甚少。由于大西洋鳕鱼形成密集的产卵聚集体并产生与求偶行为相关的声音，我们结合使用固定站和基于滑翔机的被动声学监测方法来评估乔治银行种群中大西洋鳕鱼的时空产卵动态。此外，我们评估了在北大西洋西部新英格兰南部水域内指定的海上风电租赁区与 OWE 的潜在相互作用。广义线性模型用于评估鳕鱼咕噜声活动与多个环境循环之间的相关性。将新英格兰南部产卵场的结果与类似的数据进行了比较，这些数据描述了缅因州西部湾种群中地理上分离的马萨诸塞湾冬季产卵亚群。大西洋鳕鱼咕噜声的时间模式表明，新英格兰南部水域的产卵集中在 11 月和 12 月，在新月和满月附近产卵最多。尽管这两个区域之间咕噜声存在的时间动态存在细微差别，但推断产卵的总体季节性是相似的。结果表明，新英格兰南部的大西洋鳕鱼产卵与计划中的 OWE 建设在时间和空间上重叠。