Detection of potential fishing zone for Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) using generalized additive model and remotely sensed data

To evaluate the effects of oceanographic conditions on the formation of the potential fishing zones for Pacific saury in western North Pacific, fishing locations of Pacific saury from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operating Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) and satellite-based oceanographic information were used to construct species habitat models. A 2-level slicing method was used to identify the bright regions as actual fishing areas from OLS images, collected during the peak fishing season of Pacific saury in the North Pacific. Statistical metrics, including the significance of model terms, and reduction in the Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) were used as the bases for model selection. The selected model was then used to visualize the basin scale distributions of the Pacific saury habitat. The predicted potential fishing zones exhibited spatial correspondence with the fishing locations. The results from generalized additive model revealed that the Pacific saury habitat selection was significantly influenced by the SST ranges from 13-18 degrees C, SSC ranges from 0.5-1.8 mg.m(-3), SSHA ranges from 5-17 cm and EKE ranges from 700-1200 cm(2)s(-2). Moreover, among the set of oceanographic factors examined, SST explained the smallest AIC and is thus, considered to be the most significant variable in the geographic distribution of Pacific saury.