Elucidating the potential squid habitat responses in the central North Pacific to the recent ENSO flavors

Abstract

The effects of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-mediated environmental changes to marine resources were long recognized; however, species-specific responses were also reported to vary, possibly more so, under the emerging event-to-event diversity of the ENSO conditions. Hence, the objective of this study is to characterize the potential impacts of the ENSO-regulated environmental variability to squid habitat in the central North Pacific under the different ENSO flavors, using habitat models developed from at least a decade of fishery-dependent dataset and environmental parameters. Our findings revealed that the potential squid habitats were largely influenced by ENSO-forced environmental changes during the squid’s spawning and nursery periods, resulting in substantial reduction/enhancement of available habitats in the succeeding summers of Central Pacific El Nino/La Nina, where the latter led to an expansion of favorable spawning and nursery grounds. However, the autumn–winter periods of weaker and short-lived Eastern Pacific El Nino showed elevated potential habitats due to minimal sea surface temperature drop and close proximity of spawning and nursery grounds to optimal feeding environments. The quick, albeit variable, squids’ responses to ENSO flavors accentuate their promising potential as ecological beacons under climate changes, aiding the development of adaptive management strategies for commercially exploited fisheries.