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Satellite chlorophyll concentration as an aid to understanding the dynamics of Indian oil sardine in the southeastern Arabian Sea

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Relation http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/13377/
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12806
 
Title Satellite chlorophyll concentration as an aid
to understanding the dynamics of Indian oil sardine
in the southeastern Arabian Sea
 
Creator Menon, Nandini
Sankar, Syam
Smitha, A
George, Grinson
Shalin, S
Sathyendranath, Shubha
Platt, Trevor
 
Subject Remote sensing
Oil sardine
 
Description Coastal waters of Kerala, which form an integral part of the Malabar upwelling zone
off the southwest coast of India, constitute an important fishing region for small pelagics. Satellite
remote sensing data from 1998−2014 were used to test the hypothesis that fluctuations in the landings
of Sardinella longiceps, the major pelagic fish landed in the area designated as the South
Eastern Arabian Sea (SEAS), are influenced by seasonal variability in phytoplankton biomass
(measured as chlorophyll a [chl a] concentration), under the changing strength of physical para -
meters such as sea surface temperature (SST), alongshore wind stress, Ekman mass transport, sea
level anomaly (SLA) and Kerala rainfall. Multiple linear regression analysis (MLRA) was used to
assess the influence of physical forcing mechanisms on chl a concentration on monthly and seasonal
scales. We found that SLA, alongshore wind stress, SST and rainfall were ranked 1 to 4,
respectively, and the first 3 factors significantly influenced the chl a concentration of SEAS. Pearson’s
correlation analysis between monthly chl a and sardine landing (with chl a leading) showed
a maximum positive correlation (+0.26) at 2 and 3 mo lags, emphasizing that the influence of chl a
on the fishery of S. longiceps is seasonal (r = 0.35 for seasonal lead−lag correlation) in the coastal
waters of SEAS. Variation in phytoplankton biomass, as evidenced by chl a fluctuations, seems to
have a decisive role in regulating the physiological condition of larvae spawned during the southwest
monsoon season, their juveniles and finally the adults that are recruited into the fishery in the
next season. Using the quantity of phytoplankton as a predictive tool will exploit the presumptive
trophic link to aid understanding of sardine fishery dynamics in upwelling zones.
 
Date 2018
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format text
 
Language en
 
Identifier http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/13377/1/Grinson%20George_2018_Marine%20Ecology%20Progress%20Series_Satellite%20chlorophyll%20concentration%20as%20an%20aid.pdf
Menon, Nandini and Sankar, Syam and Smitha, A and George, Grinson and Shalin, S and Sathyendranath, Shubha and Platt, Trevor (2018) Satellite chlorophyll concentration as an aid to understanding the dynamics of Indian oil sardine in the southeastern Arabian Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series.