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Biological responses of small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis) to multiple stressors: a case study in the Yellow Sea, China

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Abstract

Temporal changes in biological characteristics of small yellow croaker Larimichthys polyactis in the Yellow Sea were examined for the period of 1960–2008. The body size and age of small yellow croaker decreased substantially, in particular, average length of fish in 2008 was reduced by ~85% than those occurring in 1985, and at that time ~93% of the total catch was dominated by one-year-old individuals. Correspondingly, growth parameters also varied significantly over the years, i.e., k (growth coefficient) and t 0 (zero-length age) gradually increased from 0.26 and–0.58 year in 1960 to 0.56 and–0.25 year in 2008, respectively. Although, L∞ (body length) sharply decreased from 34.21 cm in 1960 to 24.06 cm in 2008, and t r (inflexion age) decreased from 3.78 year in 1960 to 1.61 year in 2008. There was a great increase both in natural mortality coefficient and fishing mortality coefficient. However, according to the gray correlation analysis, changes in the biological characteristics of small yellow croaker were induced by different stressors ranked as: fishing vessel power>feeding grade>sea surface temperature. This study suggests that the active fishery management measures for biological characters of fish populations should be considered.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge all our colleagues for their help with the collection of survey data. Special thanks are given to two anonymous reviewers for their valuable and constructive comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Xiujuan Shan, Xiansen Li, Tao Yang, Guozheng Zhang, Xianshi Jin & Fangqun Dai

  2. Function Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Xiujuan Shan & Xianshi Jin

  3. Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, 4331, Bangladesh

    S M Sharifuzzaman

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  1. Xiujuan Shan
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  2. Xiansen Li
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  3. Tao Yang
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Correspondence to Xiansen Li.

Additional information

The National Basic Research Program (973 Program) of China under contract No. 2015CB453303; the Aoshan Scientific and Technical Innovation Program under contract No. 2015ASKJ02-05; the Taishan Scholar Project Special Fund.

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Shan, X., Li, X., Yang, T. et al. Biological responses of small yellow croaker (Larimichthys polyactis) to multiple stressors: a case study in the Yellow Sea, China. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 36, 39–47 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-017-1091-2

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