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A preliminary study to understand the transport process for the eggs and larvae of Japanese Pacific walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma using particle-tracking experiments based on a high-resolution ocean model

  • SPECIAL FEATURE: ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Social-ecological systems on walleye pollock under changing environment: Inter-disciplinary approach
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Abstract

We developed a realistic 1/50° high-resolution ocean model capable of resolving submesoscale variability, and performed particle-tracking experiments based on this ocean model to identify elements that significantly affect the transport of the eggs and larvae of the Japanese Pacific walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma into Funka Bay. The high-resolution model reproduced representative features of the oceanographic conditions of the main spawning area and season. A comparison of particle-tracking experiments performed under the passive transport condition based on high-resolution (1/50°) and low-resolution (1/10°) ocean models showed that high-resolution modeling is essential in order to realistically simulate the transport process. In this regard, however, the vertical motion of particles cannot be explained by the passive transport condition, as it leads to unrealistically deep sinking of particles in the simulation. Turning our attention to feasible non-passive transport conditions, we then incorporated the buoyancy motion of particles and conducted additional experiments that mainly differed in the particle density adopted. We clarified that buoyancy is an important factor in the retention of particles near the sea surface, and that the ratio of the particles that remain in Funka Bay to the number of particles released is sensitive to the vertical motions/positions of the particles, implying that it is necessary to model this vertical motion more accurately by incorporating more realistic biological processes or a statistical distribution into the particle-tracking model.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to deeply thank Dr. Makino for providing us with the valuable opportunity to produce this manuscript. We also would like to thank the editor, two anonymous reviewers, and Dr. Isoda (Hokkaido University) for constructive and fruitful comments. Our numerical simulation was conducted on a cluster and vector computing system at the Agriculture, Forest, Fisheries, and Technology Center. This work was supported mainly by the Fisheries Agency project (Shigen HendoYoin Bunseki Chosa), but the contents of this study do not necessarily reflect the views of the Fisheries Agency.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, 116 Katsurakoi, Kushiro, Hokkaido, 085-0802, Japan

    Hiroshi Kuroda & Tomonori Azumaya

  2. National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-8648, Japan

    Hiroshi Kuroda & Takashi Setou

  3. Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Amamiya, Tsutsumidori, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi, 981-8555, Japan

    Daisuke Takahashi

  4. Institute of Low Temperature Science, Hokkaido University, Nishi-8, Kita-19, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0819, Japan

    Humio Mitsudera

Authors
  1. Hiroshi Kuroda
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  2. Daisuke Takahashi
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  3. Humio Mitsudera
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  4. Tomonori Azumaya
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Kuroda.

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This article is sponsored by the Fisheries Research Agency, Yokohama, Japan.

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Kuroda, H., Takahashi, D., Mitsudera, H. et al. A preliminary study to understand the transport process for the eggs and larvae of Japanese Pacific walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma using particle-tracking experiments based on a high-resolution ocean model. Fish Sci 80, 127–138 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0717-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-014-0717-y

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