Welcome to Chinese Journal of Ecology! Today is Share:

cje

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Spatiotemporal patterns of central fishing ground of pelagic fishes in the sea area of central Eastern Central Atlantic.

PANG Zhi-wei, LI Xian-sen*, ZHU Jian-cheng, SUN Shan, YING Yi-ping   

  1. (Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of Sustainable Development of Marine Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Qingdao 266071, Shandong, China).
  • Online:2016-11-10 Published:2016-11-10

Abstract: According to the marine environmental data obtained by remote sensing and fishing logs of Chinese vessels in waters of Cape Verde coast (FAO Fishing Area 34, Subdivision 3.11), central Eastern Central Atlantic, from January to August, 2012 and from December 2014 to July 2015, monthly changes of catch per unit effort (CPUE), spatiotemporal changes of central fishing ground, and their relationships to environmental factors, including chlorophyll a concentration,  sea surface temperature (SST), longitude and latitude, were analyzed by using a productioncentered method, statistical interpolation, mathematical statistics, and generalized additive models (GAM). The results showed that the monthly CPUE increased at first and then decreased. The central fishing ground had an obvious monthly variation; It moved from north to south and reached southernmost in March or April, and then moved from south to north. Chlorophyll a concentration of fishing centers in different months was 0-10 mg·m-3, with 7-9 mg·m-3 in majority. SST of fishing centers in different months was 17.3-27.6 ℃, with 19-21 ℃ in majority. GAM model analysis revealed that the optimum SST of fishing ground was 20-22 ℃, the optimum chlorophyll a concentration of fishing ground was 4.480-7.388 mg·m-3, longitude concentrated around 16°40′ W, and latitude around 19° N. Regression analysis between CPUE and marine environmental data indicated that, except SST, chlorophyll a concentration and the spatial factors were strongly correlated to CPUE. The results of GAM showed that the relative importance of the four variables affecting the fishing grounds of pelagic fishes was in order of longitude, latitude, chlorophyll a concentration, and SST. The location changes of upwelling, caused and generated by ocean currents, had important impacts on the spatial and temporal variation of the Cape Verde coastal fishing ground.

Key words: vulnerability, drought, danger, integrated risk, disaster prevention and mitigation capacity.