TITLE:
Age and Growth of Japanese Mackerel in the High Seas of the Northwest Pacific Ocean
AUTHORS:
Heng Zhang, Chao Yang, Bo Xu, Yongchuang Shi, Guoqing Zhao, Haibin Han
KEYWORDS:
Northwest Pacific High Seas, Japanese Mackerel, Growth Parameters, Fisheries Management
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.12 No.1,
December
28,
2021
ABSTRACT: Japanese mackerel (Scomber japonicus) is one of the
important economic species in the pelagic light seine fishery in China, but few
studies have been reported on the age, growth and management recommendations of
Japanese mackerel in the high seas of the northwest Pacific Ocean. In this study,
we fitted expressions for the relationship between fork length and body weight
of Japanese mackerel based on fork length and body weight data of Japanese
mackerel in the high seas of the Northwest Pacific Ocean from 2018 to 2019, and
calculated growth parameters and growth characteristics of Japanese mackerel von
Bertalanffy growth equation by identifying otolith age data combined with the
least squares method. The results showed that the relationship between fork
length and body weight of Japanese mackerel in the open sea of the Northwest
Pacific Ocean was W = 2.0 × 10-6 L3.289 (r = 0.9764, n = 2833); the growth parameters were L = 447.61∞,
K = 0.264, t = -1.060;
the growth rate reached the maximum when the bodyweight growth rate was 122
g/yr, at which the inflection point age was 3 years old, the inflection point
body weight was 310 g, and the inflection point length was 309 mm. We recommend
2 years of age start fishing with a fork length of 250 mm (±10 mm). The growth
parameters of Japanese mackerel in the open sea of the Northwest Pacific Ocean
were not significantly different from those of the Japanese mackerel population
on Japan’s coast (P > 0.05), Finally, based on the knowledge of biological
research and resource evaluation, we suggest that the age of opening trap
should be 2 years old and the length of fork should be 250 mm (±10 mm).