Dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) distribution in relation to biophysical ocean conditions in the northwest Atlantic

• Published in: Fisheries research 2014-03, Vol.151, p.177-190
• Main Authors: Farrell, Edward R., Boustany, Andre M., Halpin, Patrick N., Hammond, Donald L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agnatha. Pisces; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Coryphaena hippurus; Dolphinfish; Exploitation and management of natural biological resources (hunting, fishing and exploited populations survey, etc.); Fisheries oceanography; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects. Techniques; Habitat; Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...); Sargassum; Sea water ecosystems; Species distribution modeling; Synecology; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution; Zero-inflated negative binomial
• ISSN: 0165-7836; 1872-6763
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fishres.2013.11.014

•High seasonal dolphinfish recreational and commercial catch off the U.S. East Coast.•A species distribution model was fit using commercial and recreational data.•Results indicate dolphinfish distribution is strongly influenced by SST and CHL.•Dolphinfish are found in association with floating Sargassum spp. mats.•Large dolphinfish are found outside of the mats, with smaller fish near the mats. We analyzed temporal and spatial catch per unit effort (CPUE) of dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) along the U.S. east coast using pelagic longline logbook data (1999–2007). A zero-inflated negative binomial model was fit using a variety of oceanographic variables to better understand distribution and abundance. The two most important dynamic oceanographic variables were sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration. We also used catch and release locations of dolphinfish caught by recreational fishermen (2002–2007) to compare conditions between datasets and for model evaluation. Dolphinfish CPUE was highest at 22–25°C with a peak at 24°C for the longline dataset, while recreational dolphinfish were caught in waters >19°C with peak catches occurring at 27°C. Dolphinfish CPUE was highest when chlorophyll-a concentration was