Changes in the Spawning Ground Environment of the Common Squid, Todarodes pacificus due to Climate Change

This study analyzed the influence of climate change on the spawning ground area of the common squid, Todarodes pacificus. To estimate long term changes in the area of the spawning ground of the common squid, water temperature at 50 m deep that can be inferred from sea surface temperature (SST) based on both NOAA/AVHRR (1981.07−2002.12) and MODIS/AQUA (2003.01−2009.12) ocean color data was analyzed. In addition, five climate indices, Arctic Oscillation Index (AO), Siberian High Index (SH), Aleutian Low Pressure Index (ALP), East Asia Winter Monsoon Index (EAWM) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) which are the main indicators of climate changes in the northwestern Pacific were used to study the relationship between the magnitude of the estimated spawning ground and climate indices. The area of the estimated spawning ground was highly correlated with the total catch of common squid throughout four decades. The area of the estimated spawning ground was negatively correlated with SH and EAWM. Especially, PDO was negatively correlated with the area of the spawning ground in the northwestern Pacific (r = -0.39) and in the southern part of the East Sea (r = -0.38). There was a positive relationship between the AO and the area of the spawning ground in the northwestern Pacific (r = 0.46) as well as in the southern part of the East Sea (r = 0.32). Temporally, the area of the winter spawning ground in the southern part of the East Sea in the 1980s was smaller than those areas in the 1990s and 2000s, because the area was disconnected with the western coastal spawning ground of Japan in the 1980s, while the area had been made wider and more continuous from the Korea strait to the western coastal water of Honshu in the 1990s and 2000s.