Remote sensing data and longline catches of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in the equatorial Atlantic

Abstract This study investigates the relationship between yellowfin tuna ( Thunnus albacares ) caught in the tropical Atlantic between 15°S and 15°N and 10°W and 55°W by the northeast Brazilian longline fleet, and environmental variables obtained from remote sensors such as sea surface temperature (AVHRR/NOAA), chlorophyll- a concentration (SeaWiFS/SeaStar), sea surface height anomaly (TOPEX/Poseidon), and wind velocity (Scatterometer/ERS-1 and -2). The observed relationships between longline catch data, expressed as catch per unit effort (CPUE), and the satellite data were analysed using the statistical method of generalized additive models (GAMs). CPUE was calculated as the number of fish caught by 100 hooks in 1° latitude by 1° longitude square grid and integrated into a month of fishing activity for the period of 1995–2000. Results obtained showed evidences of non-linear relationships between catch yields and environmental data. The largest CPUE of yellowfin tuna in the region seems to be strongly associated with the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) position and its temporal variability. In the model, this was confirmed by the highest correlation of CPUE with the meridional wind component. This result also indicates 5°S as the southern limit for a larger concentration of this species during the most productive fishing period between March and May. In decreasing order of importance, sea surface temperature, chlorophyll- a concentration and sea surface height anomaly, albeit statistically significant, seemed to be of secondary importance in controlling this species abundance in the region.

[1]  H. Vieira.  Fisheries-oceanographical study on tunas, billfishes and sharks in the southwestern equatorial Atlantic Ocean , 1994 .

[2]  J. Keen,et al.  Environmental preferences of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) at the northern extent of its range , 1997 .

[3]  J. Stretta.  Forecasting models for tuna fishery with aerospatial remote sensing , 1991 .

[4]  R. G. Punsly.  Estimation of the relative annual abundance of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, in the Eastern Pacific Ocean during 1970-1985 , 1987 .

[5]  W. Liu,et al.  Characterization and validation of the heat storage variability from TOPEX/Poseidon at four oceanographic sites , 2000 .

[6]  F. G. Carey,et al.  Daily patterns in the activities of swordfish, Xiphias gladius, observed by acoustic telemetry , 1981 .

[7]  W. Mccluney,et al.  Estimation of the depth of sunlight penetration in the sea for remote sensing. , 1975, Applied optics.

[8]  P. Fiedler,et al.  Tuna aggregation and feeding near fronts observed in satellite imagery , 1987 .

[9]  Paul C. Fiedler,et al.  Albacore tuna catch distributions relative to environmental features observed from satellites , 1984 .

[10]  R. Tibshirani,et al.  Generalized additive models for medical research , 1986, Statistical methods in medical research.

[11]  A. Fonteneau.  Interactions between tuna fisheries: A global review with specific examples from the Atlantic Ocean , 1996 .

[12]  J. Marr.  On the Use of the Terms Abundance, Availability and Apparent Abundance in Fishery Biology , 1951 .

[13]  I. Yamanaka.  The Fisheries forecasting system in Japan for coastal pelagic fish , 1988 .

[14]  J. Shukla,et al.  On the Dynamics of Droughts in Northeast Brazil: Observations, Theory and Numerical Experiments with a General Circulation Model , 1981 .

[15]  W. Ricker.  Computation and interpretation of biological statistics of fish populations , 1977 .

[16]  A. Miguel P. Santos,et al.  Fisheries oceanography using satellite and airborne remote sensing methods: a review , 2000 .

[17]  J. Power,et al.  Satellite observed sea-surface temperatures and yellowfin tuna catch and effort in the Gulf of Mexico. , 1991 .

[18]  M. Lutcavage,et al.  Understanding Environmental Influences on Movements and Depth Distributions of Tunas and Billfishes Can Significantly Improve Population Assessments , 2001 .

[19]  K. Holland,et al.  Different residence times of yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, and bigeye tuna, T. obesus, found in mixed aggregations over a seamount , 1999 .

[20]  F. Schott,et al.  Eddies in the North Brazil Current retroflection region observed by Geosat altimetry , 1993 .

[21]  J. Servain,et al.  Climatic atlas of the tropical Atlantic wind stress and sea surface temperature: 1980-1984 , 1987 .

[22]  R. Lynn,et al.  SEASONAL MIGRATION OF NORTH PACIFIC ALBACORE, THUNNUS ALALUNGA, INTO NORTH AMERICAN COASTAL WATERS: DISTRIBUTION, RELATIVE ABUNDANCE, AND ASSOCIATION WITH TRANSITION ZONE WATERS , 1977 .

[23]  F. Muller‐Karger,et al.  The dispersal of the Amazon's water , 1988, Nature.

[24]  Xi He,et al.  Cluster analysis of longline sets and fishing strategies within the Hawaii-based fishery , 1997 .

[25]  J. Neter,et al.  Applied Linear Regression Models , 1983 .

[26]  Barbara A. Block,et al.  Horizontal movements and depth distribution of large adult yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) near the Hawaiian Islands, recorded using ultrasonic telemetry: implications for the physiological ecology of pelagic fishes , 1999 .

[27]  A. Lange,et al.  Alternative Survey Indices for Predicting Availability of Longfin Squid to Seasonal Northwest Atlantic Fisheries , 1991 .

[28]  O. Maury,et al.  Hierarchical interpretation of nonlinear relationships linking yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) distribution to the environment in the Atlantic Ocean , 2001 .

[29]  Jane-Ling Wang,et al.  Statistic modelling via dimension reduction methods , 1997 .

[30]  F. Dobson,et al.  Oceanographic Applications of Remote Sensing , 1995 .

[31]  F. Arocha,et al.  UPDATE INFORMATION ON THE SPAWNING OF YELLOWFIN TUNA, Thunnus albacares, IN THE WESTERN CENTRAL ATLANTIC , 2001 .

[32]  P. Lamb,et al.  Climatic Atlas of the Tropical Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans , 1977 .

[33]  Robert H. Stewart,et al.  Methods of satellite oceanography , 1985 .

[34]  K. Bigelow,et al.  Environmental effects on swordfish and blue shark catch rates in the US North Pacific longline fishery , 1999 .