Abstract
Skipjack tuna are the most abundant commercial species in Taiwan’s pelagic purse seine fisheries. However, the rapidly changing marine environment increases the challenge of locating target fish in the vast ocean. The aim of this study was to identify the potential fishing grounds of skipjack tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). The fishing grounds of skipjack tuna were simulated using the habitat suitability index (HSI) on the basis of global fishing activities and remote sensing data from 2012 to 2015. The selected environmental factors included sea surface temperature and front, sea surface height, sea surface salinity, mixed layer depth, chlorophyll a concentration, and finite-size Lyapunov exponents. The final input factors were selected according to their percentage contribution to the total efforts. Overall, 68.3% of global datasets and 35.7% of Taiwanese logbooks’ fishing spots were recorded within 5 km of suitable habitat in the daily field. Moreover, 94.9% and 79.6% of global and Taiwan data, respectively, were identified within 50 km of suitable habitat. Our results showed that the model performed well in fitting daily forecast and actual fishing position data. Further, results from this study could benefit habitat monitoring and contribute to managing sustainable fisheries for skipjack tuna by providing wide spatial coverage information on habitat variation.
Highlights
Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) is known for being highly migratory and is widely distributed in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) [1]
We propose that the mixed layer depth (MLD), which implies the limit of oxygen concentration, does not directly reflect fishing activities
This study successfully developed an habitat suitability index (HSI) model, which could be an efficient tool to forecast potential fishing grounds because it projects optimal habitat selection for skipjack tuna using fishery data and environmental parameters from a high spatial–temporal resolution and remote sensing perspective
Summary
Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) is known for being highly migratory and is widely distributed in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) [1]. As an economically harvested species, skipjack tuna are mainly sold to canneries [5]. This fishery harvest ranks third among the most fished species globally, and catches have more than doubled since the 1980s [6]. The increasing catches of skipjack tuna are evident due to the flourishing large-scale, international purse seine fisheries that predominate in the WCPO [3,7]. The physiology of skipjack plays a role: They avoid cooler water and inhabit warm water
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