Tuna and swordfish catch in the U.S. northwest Atlantic longline fishery in relation to mesoscale eddies.

ABSTRACT: To analyze the effects of mesoscale eddies, sea surface temperature (SST), and gear configuration on the catch of Atlantic bluefin (Thunnus thynnus), yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), and bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) and swordfish (Xiphias gladius) in the U.S. northwest Atlantic longline fishery, we constructed multivariate statistical models relating these variables to the catch of the four species in 62 121 longline hauls made between 1993 and 2005. During the same 13-year period, 103 anticyclonic eddies and 269 cyclonic eddies were detected by our algorithm in the region 30-55°N, 30-80°W. Our results show that tuna and swordfish catches were associated with different eddy structures. Bluefin tuna catch was highest in anticyclonic eddies whereas yellowfin and big

SUBMITTER: Hsu AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5020580 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature