CR prepress abstract  -  doi: 10.3354/cr00746

ABSTRACT: Recent studies have shown that the population dynamics of deep-sea organisms are affected by coupling between surface oceanic processes and energy, or trophic resources, reaching the sea floor. I analysed the correlation between landings of a deep-sea shrimp (Aristeus antennatus) in Catalonia (NW Mediterranean) and the climatic indices annual North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and winter NAO between 1971 and 2007. I show that landings are significantly correlated with the NAO and with the winter NAO with 2 and 3-year lags. Considering that around 60% of the landings are constituted by 2 and 3-year old females, my results suggest that climatic conditions over the western Mediterranean (especially in winter) influence the year-class strength of this deep-sea shrimp, fished from 600 to 800 m depth.