Seasonal variation in fish school spatial distribution and abundance under the Kuroshio regular pattern and the large meander in Suzu coastal waters

The Kuroshio Current can take two paths; usually it follows the regular pattern but occasionally it follows a pattern known as the large meander. In this study, we investigated the abundance of fish that migrate to coastal waters and the spatial distribution of fish schools under both Kuroshio patte...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 16; no. 11; p. e0260629
Main Authors:	Zhu, Yanhui, Minami, Kenji, Iwahara, Yuka, Oda, Kentaro, Hidaka, Koichi, Hoson, Osamu, Morishita, Koji, Hirota, Masahito, Tsuru, Sentaro, Shirakawa, Hokuto, Miyashita, Kazushi
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 30-11-2021 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Acoustics Analysis Animals Biodiversity Biology and Life Sciences Coastal waters Coasts Cold water Commercial fishing Earth Sciences Echo sounding Education Fish Fish migration Fisheries Fishery industry Fishes Geographical distribution Geospatial data Global positioning systems GPS Kuroshio Current Marine environment Marine fish Perciformes - physiology Polls & surveys Population Dynamics R&D Research & development Seasonal variations Seasons Seriola quinqueradiata Social Sciences Spatial distribution Spring Spring (season) Trachurus japonicus Water masses Water temperature Winter Japan
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The Kuroshio Current can take two paths; usually it follows the regular pattern but occasionally it follows a pattern known as the large meander. In this study, we investigated the abundance of fish that migrate to coastal waters and the spatial distribution of fish schools under both Kuroshio patterns in Suzu district, Kochi prefecture, where the set net is the main fishery industry. We clarified the seasonal variation in the density and distribution of fish schools using a quantitative echo sounder. The effects of the Kuroshio large meander (LM) depended on the season. There was no effect of current pattern in summer or autumn, but in winter and spring the LM altered the marine environment and fish distributions. Cold water masses were formed in the survey area during winter and spring during the LM, and the water temperature dropped significantly compared with during the Kuroshio non-large meander (NLM). This altered the fish species and the distribution of fish schools in the survey area. The catches of Japanese horse mackerels (Trachurus japonicus) and Yellowtails (Seriola quinqueradiata) were much higher during the LM compared with those during the NLM. Unlike these two species, the small-sized pelagic fishes in spring has decreased significantly during the LM.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0260629