Size-class Estimation of the Number of Walleye Pollock Theragra chal-cogramma Caught in the Southwestern East Sea during the 1970s-1990s

摘要

Walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma fisheries in Korean waters have changed dramatically during the last three decades: the highest catches occurred in 1981, followed by continuous decreases through the 1990s, ending with a complete collapse of thepopulation in the 2000s. The major spawning ground of walleye pollock is located in North Korean waters, and some juveniles (called nogari in Korean, <300 mm) migrate to the south for feeding and growth. Since the 1960s, Korean fishermen have often caught juveniles, and the weight (metric tons) of juvenile catch was recorded from 1975-1997. However, because the walleye pollock were not aged, the population age structure was not delineated. We developed a model to estimate the number of walleye pollock of each size class based on catch statistics of adults and juveniles, the catch proportion of each size class, and length and weight information on specimens collected by Danish-seine and drift-gill-net fisheries. The model results demonstrated that the recruitment size of walleye pollock was consistently within the 200-250mm size class, and the highest number of this size class occurred in 1981, although values greatly fluctuated interannually. The number of juvenile pollock was 10.4 times higher than that of adult pollock during 1975-1997. The total yield of juvenile pollock was 0.95 million tons, which was equivalent to about 68.2% of total pollock production. The number of juvenile pollock caught during the same period, however, was 16 billion, comprising about 91.2% of the total number caught. Such high fishing pressure on juvenile pollock is considered one of the main factors causing the collapse of the pollock population.