Frontiers in Marine Science (Jul 2020)
Fishery Stock Assessments in the Min River Estuary and Its Adjacent Waters in Southern China Using the Length-Based Bayesian Estimation (LBB) Method
Abstract
The Min River Estuary and its adjacent waters, connecting to the East China Sea, is one of the most important fishing grounds in Fujian Province, southern China; however, stock assessments have not yet been conducted. In the present study, the length-based Bayesian estimation method was applied for the first time to assess 20 single-species fishery stocks in the region. Catches of eight fish species from the Class Actinopterygii and 12 shrimp species from the Class Malacostraca were obtained from two commercial demersal trawlers, operated in the Min River Estuary and its adjacent waters, in February, May, August, and November of 2017 and 2018, covering all four seasons. The results showed that eight species were overexploited with an estimated B/BMSY (i.e., the current exploited biomass relative to the biomass producing the maximum sustainable yield) < 0.8 (range from 0.26 to 0.71). Three overexploited fish species (Gray’s grenadier anchovy Coilia grayii, the big head croaker Collichthys lucidus, and the Trevavas croaker Johnius trewavasae) are commercially important food species in the region. All four overexploited shrimp species (the shrimp Parapenaeopsis cultrirostris, the Japanese snapping shrimp Alpehus japonicus, and the Caridean shrimps Palaemon annandalei and Palaemon carinicouda) are small-sized and have low commercial value. The three-lined tongue sole Cynoglossus abbreviates, a commercially important species, was classified as fully exploited (0.8 ≤ B/BMSY ≤ 1.2). Osbeck’s grenadier anchovy Coilia mystus and the Japanese mantis shrimp Oratosquilla oratoria, both commercially important food species in the region, had non-fully exploited statuses (B/BMSY > 1.2). The results revealed that some commercially important food fishes are overexploited in the region and that small-sized, non-commercial food species can also be overexploited. There is an urgent need for local and national fisheries authorities to focus on coastal fishery management.
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