태평양 연어류(Oncorhynchus spp.)의 장기 풍도 변화 및 개체 크기 변화

Abstract

To clarify relationships between the abundance and biological characteristics of Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., we analyzed spatiotemporal changes in fork length, body weight, and an index of relative abundance (catch per unit effort, CPUE) for pink salmon (O. gorbuscha), chum salmon (O. keta), and sockeye salmon (O. nerka) collected by research gill-nets from the T/V Oshoro-maru and the T/V Hokusei-maru of Hokkaido University in the North Pacific during 1953-2007. Populations of each species were distributed throughout the western Bering Sea, eastern Bering Sea (EB), western North Pacific (WNP), central North Pacific (CNP), eastern North Pacific (ENP), and Okhotsk Sea. Since 1970, the average body size of chum salmon at ocean ages 0.3-0.4 has generally declined in the WNP and CNP. However, the average body sizes of sockeye and pink salmon have not shown temporal changes. Chum salmon showed significant negative (positive) correlations between CPUE and body size for populations in CNP (ENP) at ocean ages 0.2-0.3 (age 0.1) for both sexes. In general, sockeye salmon also showed significant negative (positive) correlations between CPUE and body size for populations in the EB at ocean ages X.2-X.3 (age X.1) for both sexes, except in CNP at age 2. Our results suggest that better growth by chum and sockeye salmon in the early periods of their ocean life histories might produce higher abundance. This higher abundance, which might also be affected by overlapping distributions among Pacific salmon species and populations in certain seas, in turn appears to cause density-dependent declines in growth in the following ocean life history period due to the limited carrying capacity of the seas. To understand complex dynamics in Pacific salmon species in the North Pacific Ocean, research on interactions among species and populations is needed.