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Late arrival of Anguilla japonica glass eels at the Sagami River estuary in two recent consecutive year classes: ecology and socio-economic impacts

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Abstract

To determine the actual status of the recruiting glass eel stock of Anguilla japonica, we conducted a continuous monthly monitoring program for 2 years between November 2009 and October 2011 at the Sagami River estuary, Japan. A total of 114 and 372 A. japonica glass eels were observed in the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 seasons, respectively. Recruitment patterns were the same in both years, starting in early winter (December in 2009 and November in 2010), increasing slightly until March, decreasing in April, but attaining the largest peak in June, after which no glass eels were observed during August–October. The Japanese eel has been known to spawn mainly in the summer, and glass eels recruit to their freshwater growth habitats during the winter to early spring. Our results clearly demonstrate an unexpected late arrival of glass eels in the early summer for two recent consecutive year classes. The summer recruitment found in our study indicates the unusual phenology of the Japanese eel, which may be a possible response to recent climate change.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank K. Kumagiri, S. Tsubaki and T. Fushiguro who provided useful information on glass eel fishing. The authors also thank the following people who supported the sampling survey of this study: S. Ai, M. Oya, M. Nakamura, H. Itakura, M. Ishikawa, Y. Shibuta and S. Nakazato. Thanks are also due to Y. Ishiguro and M. Aikawa of the Fishery Division of the Kanagawa Prefectural Government for their discretion in allowing the sample collection and providing catch data of the glass eels. We are grateful to the editor and two anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments to improve the manuscript. Critical comments and corrections from M.J. Miller are also highly appreciated. This study was partially supported by a grant-in-aid (no. 21405024) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Cooperative Program (no. 122, 2011) by the Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute of the University of Tokyo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8564, Japan

    Jun Aoyama & Katsumi Tsukamoto

  2. Department of Biology, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan

    Akira Shinoda

  3. School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan

    Tatsuki Yoshinaga

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  1. Jun Aoyama
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  2. Akira Shinoda
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  3. Tatsuki Yoshinaga
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  4. Katsumi Tsukamoto
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Correspondence to Jun Aoyama.

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Aoyama, J., Shinoda, A., Yoshinaga, T. et al. Late arrival of Anguilla japonica glass eels at the Sagami River estuary in two recent consecutive year classes: ecology and socio-economic impacts. Fish Sci 78, 1195–1204 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12562-012-0544-y

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