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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture and Living Resources
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1491129

The Change of Environmental Factors in the Water Near the Yangtze Estuary May Induce the Change of Large Yellow Croaker Fishery Location There

Provisionally accepted
Lina Cai Lina Cai 1*Jiahua Li Jiahua Li 1Xiaojun Yan Xiaojun Yan 1*Rong Tang Rong Tang 2Xinkai Zhang Xinkai Zhang 1
  • 1 Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China
  • 2 School of Marine Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, Liaoning Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The large yellow croaker, an endemic migratory species in China's coastal waters, holds considerable economic importance. It is very necessary and significant to study the spatio-temporal evolution of large yellow croaker fishery based on environmental factors. In this paper, the HY-1C/D Coastal Zone Imager was applied to reveal distributional details of suspended sediment concentration and chlorophyll-a concentration in large yellow croaker fishery. Furthermore, combined with multi-source data, the characteristics of other environmental parameters such as temperature, salinity, current, wind and fronts were analyzed to reveal the changing of large yellow croaker fishery location. The results show that: (1) The environmental factors of large yellow croaker fishery exhibit pronounced spatial and temporal characteristics. Generally, the temperature (9-28 ℃), salinity (20-34 ‰) and other water environmental factors of the fishing ground are conducive to the survival and growth of large yellow croaker. The formation and change of fishery are closely related to environmental factors in the water. (2) The change of environmental factors in the water may induce the change of large yellow croaker fishery location. Winter sea surface temperature has significantly risen over the past two decades (2004-2023). With the sea surface temperature rising by approximately 2 °C west of 125°E, the overwintering ground has expanded westward, increasing by nearly 29%. In addition, the scale and number of offshore windmills increased by 836% and 456% respectively over the decade (2013-2023). In 2023, offshore wind farms cover an area of 145.47 km2 and have 200 windmills. Wind turbine piles resembling artificial reefs. It can not only promote the waters vertical exchange to enhance the nutrients in upper waters but also provide a protective base for fish spawning. Thus, effectively attracting fish species. The construction of offshore wind farms has extended spawning ground north-westward to the mouth of the Yangtze River Estuary, expanding by nearly 21%. (3) This study improved the cognition level of resources, habitat environment and change trend of large yellow croaker. It also provided technical support for the construction and protection of the large yellow croaker fishery.

    Keywords: large yellow croaker, fishery, HY-1 C/D, Yangtze estuary, environmental factors

    Received: 04 Sep 2024; Accepted: 05 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cai, Li, Yan, Tang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Lina Cai, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China
    Xiaojun Yan, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China

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