Modelling the impacts of environmental variation on the distribution of blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, in the Pacific Ocean
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Our research focuses on the relationship between marine environment and spatio-temporal patterns of large pelagic migratory species, and also develops fishery stock assessment models that incorporate the relationship and seasonal migration pattern of the population, which could improve the reliability of fishery management-related parameters. For example, spatial distributions of blue marlin relative density indicate that there is seasonal variation in the distribution of blue marlin, which appears to be related to shifts in sea surface temperature (SST). We therefore construct a spatially sex-specific age-structured stock assessment model fitted to the information on the relative density of the population over space to evaluate the possible impacts of seasonal movement. We found that the outcomes of the assessment are sensitive to the values assumed for natural mortality and stock-recruitment steepness and the ratio of current spawning stock biomass to that at pre-exploitation equilibrium appears to be the most robust among the quantities considered. Results suggest that assessment methods for blue marlin in the Pacific Ocean need to take account of seasonal migration and sex structure to improve stock assessments.
References:
Su, N. J.; Sun, C. L.*; Punt, A. E.; Yeh, S. Z.; DiNardo, G., 2011. Modelling the impacts of environmental variation on the distribution of blue marlin, Makaira nigricans, in the Pacific Ocean, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68(6), 1072-1080.
Su, N. J.; Sun, C. L.*; Punt, A. E.; Yeh, S. Z.; Dinardo, G., 2011. Evaluation of a spatially sex-specific assessment method incorporating a habitat preference model for blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) in the Pacific Ocean, Fisheries Oceanography, 20(5), 415-433.
