Impact of Climate Change on Wintering Ground of Japanese Anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) Using Marine Geospatial Statistics

Abstract

The distribution and fluctuations in abundance of small pelagic species such as anchovy are largely affected by climate change. We hypothesized that the future projected rise in temperature will result to a northward shift of Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) habitat and a subsequent increase in relative abundance. To test this hypothesis, we explored the link between Japanese anchovy abundance and environmental conditions using machine-learning and statistical models. The models were fitted with catch per unit effort (CPUE) as the response variable and remotely sensed data of sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), assimilated information of sea surface salinity (SSS), meridional and zonal ocean currents, and depth as environmental covariates. Our results showed that the abundance of E. japonicus was significantly influenced by environmental factors. In particular, salinity front and SST highlight strong relationships with winter CPUE distribution. Based on these models, the results reinforced our hypothesis and showed that the warming ocean will drive a substantial shift in Japanese anchovy habitat in the China seas. SST and CPUE showed negative correlations with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) index. These findings underpin ramifications of the climate-driven habitat shift of small pelagic fish species on the regional marine ecosystem in the China seas.

Fishery Resource Evaluation in Shantou Seas Based on Remote Sensing and Hydroacoustics

“…In vertical distribution, fish usually inhabit in middle and lower water layers during the day, and they swim up to the upper and middle water layer at night. This may be related to vertical migration of the pelagic fish [4]. Chen et al [36] also found that the demersal trawl catch of the Carangidae fish in the daytime is 1.64 times that at night in the continental shelf waters of the northern South China Sea.…”

“…The pelagic fish is a crucial fishery resource, which not only could provide a large amount of food [1] but also usually play an essential role in the marine ecosystem [2][3][4][5]. Due to aquatic exploitation activities, overfishing, and marine pollution, fishery resources are on the decline [6,7].…”

Management and Sustainable Exploitation of Marine Environments through Smart Monitoring and Automation

“…This warrants urgent action if humanity is to stave off a collapse in fish stocks. Additionally, oil spills [148] and global changes [149], as mentioned above, are topics of great concern [150], prompting not only issues of environmental conservation but also large impacts on fisheries [151], requiring accurate and modern monitoring activities. The employment of smart systems able to autonomously tune their activities according to local perturbations and able to be trained for the detection of various compounds (both in the water and over the water, evolving into e-noses) is boosting improvements in various fields of environmental monitoring.…”

Smart Fishery: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda for Sustainable Fisheries in the Age of AI

“…This understanding is also shared by Song et al [41], who suggest that marine oil spills often result in large-scale marine pollution and seriously endangers the marine ecosystems and environment and fisheries. Moreover, global surface temperature rise comes with the urgent need to study the impacts of future climate change on fisheries [42]. Most reviewed papers use a location as an attempt to contextualize automation of environmental monitoring, which includes fish/fishery, primary production, and marine health.…”