Modelling the ocean circulation on the West Greenland shelf with special emphasis on northern shrimp recruitment

The ocean circulation on the West Greenland shelf are modelled using a 3D finite element circulation model forced by wind data from the Danish Meteorological Institute-High-Resolution Limited Area Model operational atmospheric model for the Greenland area and tides at the open boundary. Residual anticyclonic eddies are generated around the shelf banks north of 64∘N and areas of permanent upwelling are located west of the shelf banks.

The potential distances of shrimp larvae transport from larval release to settling at the bottom were studied, using a particle-tracking model. Particles released (hatched shrimp larvae) south of 62∘N had a probability of about 2% of being lost to the Canadian Shelf, whereas for particles released north of 64∘N almost none were lost from the West Greenland Shelf.

The particles tended to have long retention times at the shelf banks caused by the residual anticyclonic eddies. The retention times increased slightly for particles tracked at depths from 80 to 30m with minor implications for potential transport distances of larval shrimp and plankton.