Response of phytoplankton to multispecies mariculture: a case study on the carrying capacity of shellfish in the Sanggou Bay in China

A multispecies model for shellfish polyculture in the Sanggou Bay in China used for large-scale long-line cultivation of the Chinese scallop Chlamys farreri, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and the kelp Laminaria japonica is presented. The model includes key physical processes which are the transports of matter at the system boundary, and the main biological process that is the primary production and nutrients release from the bottom. By the model, the seasonal fluctuations of phytoplankton biomass and dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) in 1994 are simulated. Furthermore, if the kelp culture scale is kept constant and the Chinese scallop and the Pacific oyster culture scales are adjusted, virtual shellfish farms are funded and responses of phytoplankton to the large-scale shellfish culture are simulated. According to these simulated results, the room limitation, and the hypothesis that shellfish will not grow well if the phytoplankton biomass is less than 8.2 mg/m³, the expandable multiple of scallop culture k and that of oyster culture y are determined as k=-0.276 5y+4.690 5 and 0.133 3k+0.006 6y ≤ 0.667 5, where, k (or y) is equal to 1, the culture scale of scallop (or oyster) is 8.8×10⁹ individuals (or 66 ha, with a density of 59 ind./m²), and the kelp culture scale is 3 300 ha with a density of 12 ind./m².     

Response of phytoplankton to multispecies mariculture:a case study on the carrying capacity of shellfish in the Sanggou Bay in China

A muhispecies model for shellfish polycuhure in the Sanggou Bay in China used for large-scale long-line cultivation of the Chinese scallop Chlamysfarreri, the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas and the kelp Laminaria japonica is presented. The model includes key physical processes which are the transports of matter at the system boundary, and the main biological process that is the primary production and nutrients release from the bottom. By the model, the seasonal fluctuations of phytoplankton biomass and dissolved inorganic nitrogen（DIN） in 1994 are simulated. Furthermore, if the kelp culture scale is kept constant and the Chinese scallop and the Pacific oyster culture scales are adjusted, virtual shellfish farms are funded and responses of phytoplankton to the largescale shellfish culture are simulated. According to these simulated results, the room limitation, and the hypothesis that shellfish will not grow well if the phytoplankton biomass is less than 8.2 mg/m^3 , the expandable multiple of scallop culture k and that of oyster culture y are determined as k = -0.276 5y ＋4.690 5 and 0.133 3k ＋0.006 6y≤0.667 5, where, k （ or y） is equal to 1, the culture scale of scallop （ or oyster） is 8.8 x 109 individuals （or 66 ha, with a density of 59 ind./m^2 ）, and the kelp culture scale is 3 300 ha with a density of 12 ind./m^2.     

Recruitment variation of eastern Bering Sea crabs: Climate-forcing or top-down effects?

During the last three decades, population abundances of eastern Bering Sea (EBS) crab stocks fluctuated greatly, driven by highly variable recruitment. In recent years, abundances of these stocks have been very low compared to historical levels. This study aims to understand recruitment variation of six stocks of red king (Paralithodes camtschaticus), blue king (P. platypus), Tanner (Chionoecetes bairdi), and snow (C. opilio) crabs in the EBS. Most crab recruitment time series are not significantly correlated with each other. Spatial distributions of three broadly distributed crab stocks (EBS snow and Tanner crabs and Bristol Bay red king crab) have changed considerably over time, possibly related in part to the regime shift in climate and physical oceanography in 1976–1977. Three climate-forcing hypotheses on larval survival have been proposed to explain crab recruitment variation of Bristol Bay red king crab and EBS Tanner and snow crabs. Some empirical evidence supports speculation that groundfish predation may play an important role in crab recruitment success in the EBS. However, spatial dynamics in the geographic distributions of groundfish and crabs over time make it difficult to relate crab recruitment strength to groundfish biomass. Comprehensive field and spatially explicit modeling studies are needed to test the hypotheses and better understand the relative importance and compound effects of bottom-up and top-down controls on crab recruitment.     

Numerical Study of Formation of Dichothermal Water in the Bering Sea

A one-dimensional numerical model with a level-2.5 turbulent closure scheme to provide vertical mixing coefficients has been used to investigate the process by which the dichothermal water is formed in the Bering Sea, the density of which is about 26.6 sigma-theta. The water column to be simulated is assumed to move along a predetermined path. That is, the present model is of the Lagrangian-type. Surface boundary conditions are given using the climatologies of heat, freshwater and momentum fluxes. In order to obtain a plausible moving speed of the water column along the path, pre-liminary experiments were done using the surface fluxes in the central part of the Bering Sea for the initial temperature and salinity profiles at the entrance of the Sea. As a result, it was found that the temperature minimum layer, i.e., the dichothermal water with temperature similar to the climatology at the exit of the Bering Sea, was formed after about two years of integration. Based on the result, the movement speed of the water column along the path was set as 4.5 cm/s in the standard run. It was found that this model could plausibly reproduce the subsurface temperature minimum layer. That is, the dichothermal water was formed in the winter mixed layer process in the Bering Sea. The existence of the subsurface halocline (pycnocline) prohibited the deeper penetration of the winter mixed layer, and therefore water with a temperature colder than that under the mixed layer was formed in the mixed layer due to wintertime surface cooling. In the warming season this water remains as the subsurface temperature minimum layer between the upper seasonal thermocline and the lower halocline. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effect of winter meteorological conditions on the formation of the cold bottom water in the eastern Bering Sea shelf

The cold bottom water, formed in the previous winter on the eastern Bering Sea shelf, remains throughout the summer. in order to examine the mechanism for the formation of the cold bottom water, we used minimum water temperature in the cold bottom water observed over the eastern Bering Sea shelf for 30 years. The interannual variation in the minimum water temperature of the cold bottom water was closely related to that of mean air temperature during cooling period at St. Paul Island. The air temperature in previous winter primarily affects the cold bottom water. We estimated decrement of the water temperature due to ice melting with simple box model. It was found with the box model that decreasing of the water temperature and lowering of the salinity depend on ice melting. To investigate the cause of interannual variation in air temperature in winter, we applied EOF analysis to the 500 hPa height. The Pacific/North American pattern (PNA) was related to mean air temperature at St. Paul Island in cooling season and the cold bottom water temperature. These results suggest the connection between ENSO events and warming or cooling in the Bering Sea shelf in winter.     

Estimation of heat flux through the eastern Bering Strait

We estimated the northward heat flux through the eastern channel of the Bering Strait during the ice-free seasons between 1999 and 2008. This is likely about half of the total heat flux through the strait. The net volume transport and heat flux through the eastern channel of the strait were estimated from multiple linear regression models with in-situ/satellite remotely sensed datasets and NCEP reanalysis 10 m wind. The net volume transport was well explained by the west-east slope of sea level anomaly and NNW wind component at the strait. On the heat flux, the contributions of both barotropic and baroclinic components were taken into account. Estimated volume transport and vertical profile of temperature were used to calculate northward heat flux through the eastern channel of the strait. The magnitude of the estimated heat flux is comparable to estimates from in-situ measurements. Averaged heat flux in the eastern Bering Strait between 2004 and 2007 was about 1.9 times larger than that between 2000 and 2003. Maximum heat flux occurred in 2004, and same magnitude of heat flux was estimated from 2005 to 2007. This resulted not only from the increase in northward volume transport but also anomalous warm water intrusion from the Bering Sea. Our results suggest a candidate among the important parameters controlling heat budget, which contributes to the Arctic sea ice reduction, whereas more studies are required to confirm that this mechanism is actually responsible for the interannual and longer timescale variability.     

Simulating the impacts of fishing on central and eastern tropical Pacific ecosystem using multispecies size-spectrum model

The size-spectrum model has been considered a useful tool for understanding the structures of marine ecosystems and examining management implications for fisheries. Based on Chinese tuna longline observer data from the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and published data, we developed and calibrated a multispecies size-spectrum model of twenty common and commercially important species in this area. We then use the model to project the status of the species from 2016 to 2050 under five c...     

Variations in age-0 pollock distribution among eastern Bering Sea nursery areas: A comparative study through acoustic indices

Cohort abundance of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) is subject to strong interannual variation in the eastern Bering Sea, and this variation is known to be determined largely at the age-0 stage. We estimated the spatial distributions and densities of age-0 walleye pollock in five nursery areas around the eastern Bering shelf in three successive years (1997–1999) from acoustic survey data. Concurrently, we calculated estimates of the spatial distribution of euphausiids, a major prey of age-0 walleye pollock, and estimates of spatial overlap of groundfish predators with the age-0 walleye pollock. The analyses showed that all nursery areas had low densities of age-0 walleye pollock in 1997, which ultimately produced the weakest adult year-class. In the intermediate year of 1998, age-0 densities were low to medium, and in 1999, which produced the strongest of the three adult year-classes, all nursery areas had medium to high age-0 walleye pollock densities. Euphausiid distributions had a consistently positive spatial relationship with age-0 walleye pollock. Groundfish predator density ratios were positively related to age-0 walleye pollock density when age-0 walleye pollock were displaced relatively northward. Our results suggest that abundance of age-0 walleye pollock, and hence of adult cohorts in the eastern Bering Sea, can be predictable from a concise set of indicators: the densities of age-0 walleye pollock at nursery areas in mid- to late-summer, their spatial relationship to euphausiids and groundfish predators, and the latitudinal trend of their distributions. The 3 years 1997–1999 had significant differences of physical conditions in the eastern Bering Sea, and represent an advantageous framework for testing these hypotheses.