Rev. biol. mar. oceanogr. 51(1): 137-145

Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-19572016000100013

Incorporating sea surface temperature into the stock-recruitment relationship: Applications to jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) off Chile

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.¹, Juan Carlos Quiroz^2,1, Rodrigo Wiff³ and Eleuterio Yáñez⁴

¹División de Investigación Pesquera, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero, Casilla 8V, Valparaíso, Chile

²Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania (UTAS), 49 Private Bag, Hobart 7001, Australia

³Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Av. Alameda 340, Santiago, Chile

⁴Escuela de Ciencias del Mar, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Casilla 1020, Valparaíso, Chile

  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The southwestern Gulf of California has high-value commercial fisheries; however, there are few studies of the taxonomic diversity of fish in this area. Surveys of taxonomic diversity of the fish assemblage at 8 localities near the shore of Bahía de La Paz were undertaken from March 2002 to April 2003. Seasonal changes in diversity of rocky reef fish were analyzed, including taxonomic distance among fish species, using the alpha, alpha average, beta, and gamma diversity indices, the taxonomic distinctness index (TD D*), and the average taxonomic distinctness index (AvTD D+). Submarine visual censuses were carried out along 48 transects measuring 100 × 5 m (500 m2) at 5 m average depth from 09:00-16:00 h. Two seasons were studied: winter with an average temperature of 22.57°C, and summer with an average temperature of 27.09°C. 24,633 fishes, belonging to 92 species and 67 genera were recorded. According to the alpha average, beta, and gamma diversity indices, August had the highest diversity (19.5, 40.5, and 60 species, respectively), and December had the lowest diversity (20.6, 27.4, and 48 species, respectively). Spatial analysis of TD and AvTD were not significantly different, and analysis by season of these indices was not significant different. Greater anthropogenic impact would cause differences in TD and AvTD found at El Guano compared with other locations.

The recruitment rate was modeled in relation to spawning biomass and to sea surface temperature (SST) for the jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) population off the Chilean coast using the Ricker model. Data regarding recruitment and spawning biomass were obtained from indirect stock assessment models from 1975 to 2001, while annual time series of SST were collected from the meteorological stations placed along the Chilean coast by the National Center of Hydrographic and Oceanographic Data (CENDHOC). The standard Ricker model was thus modified as follows: (1) the SST temporal series was included as a linear predictor; (2) the SST temporal series was modeled through smoothing functions; and (3) spawning biomass and SST temporal series were both modeled using smoothing functions. The resulting models were compared with the standard Ricker model without SST. Model selection was carried out using automatic information criteria (AIC). Including SST improved the fit of the recruitment model, despite the penalty of an additional term and a possible additional source of variability. The best model resulting includes the SST temporal series with smoothing functions and the spawning biomass with parametric functions, with a goodness-of-fit of 90%. Incorporating an environmental variable into stock-recruitment relationships may be a promising method for simultaneously considering effects from fishing and the environment, and is particularly relevant for managing fisheries in light of climate change.

Key words: Generalized additive models, stock-recruitment relationships, SST, non-parametric