2005 Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages 131-137
Sandfish (Arctoscopus japonicus) catch fluctuations both in Korea and Akita Prefecture, Japan, coincided closely until the mid 1970s, although each of the catch derives from different stocks. After that, however, the pattern of catch fluctuations in Akita was differed considerably from that in Korea, i.e., the amount of the catch has been very low since the mid 1970s. However, no mechanism behind the similarity and differences in catches between Korea and Akita has been demonstrated so far. The aim of this study is to investigate mechanisms behind these catch fluctuations using the information on ocean environment and catch forecasting model developed by Sakuramoto et al. (2001). The result is that the stock depletion occurring in the mid 1970s was due to environmental factors and after that the heavy decline in catches in Akita was due to overfishing. The important thing in managing a fish stock is to avoid putting pressure on fish by high fishing intensity, which has already been depleted, and to avoid losing a chance to recover abundance of fish depleted due to high fishing intensity.
