Preliminary evaluation of the seasonal moratorium of squid fishery on the high seas in the equatorial waters of Central Eastern Pacific

Abstract:

The main objective of the project was to evaluate the effectiveness of the seasonal moratorium on conservation of Jumbo Flying Squid (Dosidicus gigas) stock in the equatorial waters of Central Eastern Pacific. Based on catching data from December, 2016 to August, 2021, the spatial-temporal variations of catch effort, catch per unit effort (CPUE) and fishing ground gravity center were analyzed by using Grey correlation analysis and other methods. The results showed that:The average CPUE after the seasonal moratorium came to 6.34t/d, which was significantly higher than that before the moratorium (P<0.05). The grey correlation grades on longitude from 2017 to 2021 were 0.739, 0.761, 0.697, 0.721 and 0.892, respectively, and the grey correlation grades of latitude from 2017 to 2021 were 0.656, 0.799, 0.621, 0.721 and 0.803, respectively. The stock condition after the fishing moratorium was better than that before the fishing moratorium. The fishing ground gravity center after the fishing moratorium moved westwards significantly, which was different from that before the fishing moratorium. The fishing area with high production expanded from 114°W-118°W to 95°W-118°W. On the one hand, the fishing moratorium played a positive role on the conservation and sustainable use of the squid stock in the equatorial waters of Central Eastern Pacific. On the other hand, the study provided successful cases and practical experience for the fish stock management and scientific conservation of short life cycle species.