Long‐term changes in recruitment of age‐0 Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) and environmental conditions around Japan

Recruitment of age‐0 Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) from 1952 to 2014 was examined by a sequential regime shift detection method. The regime shifts in recruitment were detected in 1957, 1972, 1980, 1994 and 2009. The durations of regime shift ranged from 8–15 years and averaged 13.0 years. In both the total (1952–2014) and data rich (1980–2014) periods, negative relationships were found between recruitment and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation in autumn, and positive relationships were found between recruitment and sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the northern part of the East China Sea, in the southwestern part of the Sea of Japan, and in the waters off Shikoku and Tokai in summer and autumn. The 1994 and 2009 regime shifts in recruitment occurred in the same years as shifts in SST anomalies in the northern part of the East China Sea in summer. These results suggest that the ocean conditions in the northern part of the East China Sea are closely related to recruitment of Pacific bluefin tuna, and that the warmer conditions result in higher recruitment of the species.     

Habitat analysis of the commercial tuna of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean

We have extracted information on the habitats of bigeye (Thunnus obesus), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) and yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean by matching the spatial‐temporal distribution of catch and effort of purse seine and longline fleets collected by the Inter‐American Tropical Tuna Commission with oceanographic conditions and subjecting the matched data to Quotient Analysis and General Additive Models (GAMs). These analyses yielded the following results. The habitats defined by the GAM analysis of young fish differ significantly between two periods, one before and one after the introduction of fish aggregation devices (FADs). This was not true for the older fish caught by longline. We speculate that these changes were caused by the extensive use of FADs. Younger bigeye and yellowfin caught by the purse seine fleet have a different preference of environmental variables compared to older fish caught by longline. This is to be expected since tuna of different age groups have different sizes, metabolic capabilities and swimming skills. Moreover, as revealed by GAMs, the habitats of young fish differ between species to a much larger degree than those of older fish. Our results indicate the fundamental differences between fishing methods, targeted species, and operating region of the two fisheries. Specifically, young bigeye occupy equatorial waters farther from the coast and where the hypoxic layer is deeper, young skipjack occupy more productive waters associated with equatorial and coastal upwelling, and young yellowfin occupy broad areas where waters are underlain by a shallow hypoxic layer.     

A Comparison of the Effects of Two Prey Enrichment Media on Growth and Survival of Pacific Bluefin Tuna,Thunnus orientalis,Larvae

Three experiments were conducted to investigate the growth, survival, and standardized cohort biomass of Pacific bluefin tuna, Thunnus orientalis, larvae fed nutritionally enhanced prey during the first week of feeding using two commonly used, commercially available enrichment media, AlgaMac Enrich and Marine Glos. T. orientalis larvae exhibited exponential growth in standard length and dry weight. The daily specific growth rates in length and weight are the first reported for T. orientalis larvae and the averages ranged from 3.8 to 4.1% and 27.5%, respectively, for larvae in the AlgaMac treatment and from 4.1 to 6.1% and 31.5%, respectively, in the Marine Glos treatment. Average daily growth rates in length ranged from 0.16 to 0.23 mm/d for larvae in the AlgaMac treatment and from 0.17 to 0.27 mm/d for those in the Marine Glos treatment. Daily growth rates in length were similar to those reported for other tuna larvae reared in the laboratory but slower than most published estimates for larval tunas in situ at similar water temperatures. Mean prey number per gut was positively associated with mean prey level in the tank. Both enrichment media appear to be good sources of nutritional improvement of planktonic prey for T. orientalis larvae.     

南太平洋延绳钓长鳍金枪鱼生物学组成及其与栖息环境关系

长鳍金枪鱼(Thunnus alalunga)经济价值高,是我国延绳钓渔业重要的目标鱼种。根据2013年9月~2014年1月和2014年4~8月我国金枪鱼观察员在南太平洋东部海域收集的长鳍金枪鱼样本和海洋环境数据,对其生物学组成和栖息环境进行了研究。结果表明:叉长(FL,cm)与体质量(WW,kg)的关系为:WW=3×10-5×FL2.909 9(雌雄性,R2=0.915 3);体长(TL,cm)与叉长(FL,cm)关系为:TL=1.033 6FL+2.555(R2=0.961 4);叉长(FL,cm)与两背鳍间距(LD1D2,cm)的关系为:LD1D2=0.248 5FL+1.238 1(R2=0.815 1);利用各水层长鳍金枪鱼渔获率(catch per unit effort,CPUE)推测其主要的栖息水层为150~270 m,栖息水层温度范围16~22℃,盐度范围35.0~35.6,其中最高资源丰度主要分布在190~230 m的水层,对应的温度为18~20℃,盐度为35.2~35.4。研究结果可为掌握南太平洋长鳍金枪鱼栖息环境提供基础数据。     

磁珠富集法制备大口鲶的微卫星分子标记

2004年3月16日-6月8日，在广东广远渔业集团有限公司玻璃钢大滚筒冷海水金枪鱼延绳钓渔船“华远渔19”号，对印度洋马尔代夫海域进行金枪鱼渔业调查。所获数据资料包括：①CTD测定的温度、盐度和深度数据，TDR测定的实际钩深；②作业参数，包括每次作业的钩数、投绳位置、投绳时间、航向、航速、出绳速度、两浮子间的钩数、起绳位置、起绳时间等；③渔场环境数据，包括风速、风向、钓具对地漂移速度和方向；④渔获统计，包括大眼金枪鱼的渔获尾数以及部分大眼金枪鱼的钓获钩号；⑤生物学数据，包括起捕时已死的大眼金枪鱼的体温。分析计算的方法和步骤为：①由理论公式推算出每次作业时各钩号的理论深度；②应用逐步回归的方法，建立理论钩深与实测的平均钩深之间的数学关系模型；③根据实际平均钩深模型计算出每个钓钩的平均作业深度；④根据CTD测得的作业地点的温度、盐度的垂直分布（41次），获得分布曲线。由此，以计算的钩深，从曲线上查出该尾鱼捕获水深处的温、盐数据；⑤根据121尾大眼金枪鱼的取样数据，推算出各水层、水温段、盐度段的渔获率；⑥根据起捕时已死的34尾大眼金枪鱼（鱼体发硬）的体温、以死鱼体温为引数，在曲线上查出该尾鱼捕获水深和盐度；最后，对钓获的大眼金枪鱼的钓获水层、水温和盐度进行了总体分析。分析结果表明：在马尔代夫海域，捕获大眼金枪鱼的水层为50～210m、水温范围为13．0～29．9℃、盐度范围为35．00～35．79；渔获率最高的水层为70～90m、水温范围为27．0～27．9oC、盐度范围为35．70～35．79；捕获时已死鱼的捕获水层、水温和盐度推算数据为63～203m、14．0～27．0℃和34．94～35．42，主要集中在63～134m、16．0～27．0℃和35．30～35．42。     

大西洋海域大眼金枪鱼年龄与生长的初步研究

根据2001年6~10月在大西洋海域金枪鱼延绳钓渔业中采集的89 ind大眼金枪鱼样本,对其叉长、体重进行测定,并以脊椎骨作为年龄鉴定材料。结果表明,叉长组成为85~186 cm,体重组成为11.5~132.5kg,年龄为2~6龄。体重与叉长关系式为W=4.5026×10-5×FL2.8200。利用一般Von Bertalanffy生长方程来拟合,叉长和体重生长方程为:FL=257.90×(1-e-0.1960(t+3.7919))2.5933,Wt=284.28×[(1-e-0.1960(t+3.7919))2.5933]2.8200。叉长和体重的生长拐点分别为1.07龄和5.75龄。     

Dietary Protein Hydrolysates from Animal By-Products: Digestibility and Enzymatic Activity for Dourado Salminus brasiliensis

Fishmeal (FM) is a high-cost and scarce feedstuff. Notwithstanding, the formulation and processing of diets for carnivorous fish strongly rely on FM as a protein source, given its palatability and biological value. Animal by-product hydrolysates are high-quality feedstuff and can substitute FM in aquafeeds. This study evaluated the digestibility of hydrolysates from tilapia residue (TR), tuna head (TH), swine liver (SL), and poultry liver (PL), and the profile of digestive enzymes in juvenile dourado, Salminus brasiliensis, a carnivorous Characin, fed diets containing graded levels of the hydrolysates. Inclusion of hydrolysates in diet formulations lowered the pH of feed but did not alter feed intake by fish. Higher apparent digestibility coefficients (ADCs) of diets were recorded for fish fed diets containing TR and SL, and lower ADCs were recorded for fish fed diets containing TH. Protease and lipase activities in the animal’s stomach were higher, especially for those fed with diets containing SL. Amylase activity was higher in pyloric caeca, whereas in the intestines, the higher activity was seen in fish fed control and TR diets. Animal by-product hydrolysates were highly digestible for dourado, and the enzymatic profile of fish was influenced by the nutrient contents of diets.     

渔获量不确定性对印度洋大眼金枪鱼资源评估的影响

大眼金枪鱼(Thunnus obesus)是最具经济价值的热带金枪鱼类,其资源状况一直是区域性金枪鱼渔业管理组织关注的重点。由于多种渔业作业、捕捞船队构成复杂,印度洋大眼金枪鱼的历史渔获量统计存在一定的偏差(Bias),但国际上近些年开展资源评估时都忽略了这一偏差。本研究根据1979~2015年的年渔获量、年龄结构渔获量及相对丰度指数数据,运用年龄结构资源评估模型(ASAP)对印度洋大眼金枪鱼资源进行评估,重点考查渔获量的不确定性(观测误差和统计偏差)对资源评估结果的影响。结果显示,印度洋大眼金枪鱼当前资源总体没有过度捕捞,但2015年初显示轻微的过度捕捞,通过对比基础模型与8个灵敏度分析模型的评估结果发现,渔获量观测误差(CV)的预设对资源开发状态的判断有一定的影响。当渔获量统计偏差调整量为15%时(即历史渔获量被低估了),评估结果与基础模型基本一致;统计偏差调整量为20%时,评估结果有过度捕捞的趋势。本研究结果表明,资源评估模型中渔获量观测误差的设定和历史渔获量统计偏差均会对评估结果产生影响,后者更为明显,因此,二者均不能忽略。     

Molecular evidence for cosmopolitan distribution of platyhelminth parasites of tunas (Thunnus spp.)

Global distribution of platyhelminth parasites and their host specificities are not well known. Our hypothesis was that platyhelminth parasites of large pelagic fishes are common around the world. We analysed molecular variation in three different taxa of platyhelminth parasites infecting four species of tunas: yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares, Scombridae) from Western Australia, southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii, Scombridae) from South Australia, Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis, Scombridae) from Pacific Mexico and northern bluefin tuna (T. thynnus, Scombridae) from two localities in the Mediterranean (Spain and Croatia). Comparisons of ITS2 and partial 28S rDNA demonstrated two congeneric species of blood flukes (Digenea: Sanguinicolidae) from multiple hosts and localities: Cardicola forsteri from southern bluefin and northern bluefin tunas, and Cardicola sp. from Pacific bluefin and northern bluefin tunas; and a gill fluke, Hexostoma thynni (Polyopisthocotylea: Hexostomatidae), from yellowfin, southern bluefin and northern bluefin tunas. Partial 28S rDNA indicates that a second type of fluke on the gills, Capsala sp. (Monopisthocotylea: Capsalidae), occurs on both southern bluefin and Pacific bluefin tunas. This appears to be the first report of conspecific platyhelminth parasites of teleosts with a wide‐ranging geographical distribution that has been confirmed through molecular approaches. Given the brevity of the free‐living larval stage of both taxa of flukes on the gills (H. thynni and Capsala sp.), we conclude that the only feasible hypothesis for the cosmopolitan distribution of these flatworms is migrations of host tunas. Host migration also seems likely to be responsible for the widespread occurrence of the two species of blood flukes (Cardicola spp.), although it is also possible that these were translocated recently by the spread of infected intermediate hosts.     

Climatic oscillations and tuna catch rates in the Indian Ocean: a wavelet approach to time series analysis

We analysed the influence of climatic oscillations [based on the Indian Oscillation Index (IOI)] on monthly catch rates of two tropical tuna species in the equatorial Indian Ocean. We carried out wavelet analysis, an efficient method of time series analysis to study non‐stationary data. Catch per unit of effort (CPUE) of bigeye tuna was computed from Japanese longline statistics from 1955 to 2002 in the equatorial Indian Ocean and CPUE of yellowfin tuna was derived from industrial purse seine statistics from 1984 to 2003 in the Western Indian Ocean. Wavelet analyses allowed us to quantify both the pattern of variability in the time series and non‐stationary associations between tuna and climatic signals. Phase analyses were carried out to investigate dependency between the two signals. We reported strong associations between tuna and climate series for the 4‐ and 5‐yr periodic modes, i.e. the periodic band of the El Niño Southern Oscillation signal propagation in the Indian Ocean. These associations were non‐stationary, evidenced from 1970 to 1990 for bigeye, and from 1984 to 1991 and then from 1993 to 2001 for yellowfin. Warm episodes (low negative IOI values) matched increases of longline catch rates of bigeye during the 1970–1990 time frame, whereas the strong 1997–1998 warm event matched a decrease of purse seine catch rates of yellowfin. We discussed these results in terms of changes in catchability for purse seine and longline.