Assessment of spatiotemporal distribution of anchovy catches based on Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and MODIS satellite data in the Gulf of Thailand

Abstract

This research was conducted to investigate spatiotemporal distribution of anchovy catches in the Gulf of Thailand in 2019 based on the data from Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and fishing logbook. Generalized additive model (GAM) was used to analyze the relationship between environmental factors including sea surface chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) and sea surface temperatures (SST) from AQUA-MODIS satellite and fish catches from 3 fishing gears including falling net, surrounding net and lift nets during wet season and dry season 2019. The results showed that anchovy distribution and catches were intense in coastal areas, and the catch volume in dry season was larger than that in wet season. GAM analysis suggests that the highest fishing frequency be related to 0.1-0.8 mg/m3 of Chl-a and 28.8-29.5 °C of SST in dry season. In wet season, high fishing frequency occurred in the area with Chl-a is 0.2-0.6 mg/m3 and SST is 29.5-31.0 °C. This current study provides important information on the relationship of environmental factors to the distribution of anchovies, which can be used for sustainable management of anchovy resource fisheries.