Otolith Shape Analysis as a Tool to Identify Two Pacific Saury (Cololabis saira) Groups from a Mixed Stock in the High-Seas Fishing Ground

Abstract

The Pacific saury Cololabis saira is a commercially important pelagic species with wide distribution in the North Pacific Ocean. Previous studies identified two geographical groups by comparing the radius of otolith annual rings (ROA) of the fish collected during the pre-fishing season. Moreover, understanding the group composition in the mixed catch from the fishing ground is essential for sustainable exploitation of this species. Using samples collected during the fishing season (July-November) from 2016 to 2018, the potential of applying otolith shape analysis as a tool to identify these two mixed groups was tested in this research. Two otolith morphotypes that belong to the eastern group and western group were identified by K-means cluster analysis using Fourier coefficients and ROA. The high classification success of random forest further confirmed the effectiveness of otolith shape analysis. The western group accounted for the majority of catch in July and August at 160°E. With the passing of sampling time and fishing fleets moving westward, the proportion of eastern group gradually increased and finally reached more than 60% of the whole catch in November at 150°E. This result suggests that the eastern and western groups are well mixed during spawning migration. In addition, the temporal and spatial dynamics of their catch composition provide information for their migration route. This study is helpful for improving fisheries management and understanding the short-term stock fluctuation of Pacific saury.