The Response of Fish Communities to Climate and Human-Induced Changes Inferred from Fishery Landings in an Enclosed Bay

Abstract

Variations in the fish community structure in Omura Bay, an enclosed bay in the East China Sea, were investigated using long-term fishery landing data over the past five decades (1965–2006). We confirmed that the fish community structure in Omura Bay showed three conspicuous regimes during the study period. Anchovies dominated in the pelagic domain with abundant and various demersal fish species in the first phase (1965–1978). Demersal fish declined remarkably with the dominance of sardines in the pelagic domain during the second phase (1979–1987), and the fish community was simplified with the return of anchovies and no recovery of demersal fish in the third phase (1988–2006). These changes were significantly related with periodic large-scale climate changes and cumulative regional-scale human impacts. The replacement of sardine/anchovy caused by a climate regime shift in the North Pacific contributed to the fish community regime shifts in Omura Bay. Moreover, habitat degradation such as depletion of dissolved oxygen combined with climate-induced changes in food web systems resulted in a rapid reduction in demersal fish. Contraction of the habitat volume due to an increase in oxygen-restricted water simplified the fish community structure and eventually reduced fishery landings in Omura Bay. These findings demonstrate that long-term fish community responses to large-scale climate changes and regional-scale human impacts can be observed in a coastal enclosed bay, providing useful information for fisheries management in areas with climate and human-induced changes.