Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2018, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (6): 133-139.doi: 10.11978/2018012CSTR: 32234.14.2018012

Special Issue: 南海专题

• Marine Biology • Previous Articles    

Spatial distribution of jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) in the northern South China Sea based on geostatistics

Ran YAN1,2(), Jiangtao FANG1,2, Shannan XU1, Youwei XU1, Mingshuai SUN1, Zuozhi CHEN1()   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Open-Sea Fishery Development, Ministry of Agriculture; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fishery Ecology and Environment; South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510300, China
    2. College of Marine Sciences, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
  • Received:2018-01-17 Online:2018-11-20 Published:2018-12-24
  • Supported by:
    Special Fund for Agroscientific Research in the Public Interest (201403008);Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences Fundamental Research Funding (2017HY-ZD0804);Ministry of Agriculture's special financial item “Investigation of Offshore Fishery Resources in the northern South China Sea” (2014—2018)

Abstract:

Jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus) is one of the main catches in the northern South China Sea. Based on the survey data of the North China Coastal Fishery Resources Survey (2014-2017) in the South China Sea, we used geostatistics to explore the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of jack mackerel and related eco-dynamic processes. The results showed that the overall spatial distribution of jack mackerel was mainly associated with low resource density and less high density of resources. The characteristics of seasonal aggregation are obvious and as follows: summer> spring> autumn> winter. We found that the spatial distribution had a strong heterogeneity, and the proportion of spatial structure was above 75%. The spatial variability was dominated by Gaussian distribution, and the spatial correlation distance (variation range) was about 0.52° with obvious seasonal characteristics. Through the research on the correlation between geostatistical parameter values and catch per unit effort (CPUE), we found that the greater the resource density of jack mackerel, the more obvious the spatial heterogeneity was. Through the heterogeneity analysis in all directions, we found that the spatial heterogeneity in the northwest-southeast direction was significant, indicating that the marine dynamic process in this direction had a significant impact on the migration and distribution of jack mackerel. In addition, based on the Kriging interpolation analysis of the spatial distribution of jack mackerel, we found that jack mackerel had a pattern of migratory distribution from southwest to northeast, which had obvious characteristics of patchy distribution. Jack mackerel was also susceptible to extreme climate (El Nino, La Nina, and other extreme events).

Key words: jack mackerel, geostatistics, northern South China Sea, spatial distribution

CLC Number: 

  • S931.1