Day to day variation in catch of fish and seismic activity

Abstract

Fishes are quite sensitive to natural disasters such as earthquakes, in the same manner as animals living under the ground. We examined the data for the catch of fish caught at twenty-seven“set net”fishing grounds in the Sagami bay. Day to day variations in the catch of Japanese sardines (Sardinops melanostica) and horse mackerels (Trachurus japonica) show good correlation with the activities of the swarm earthquakes in the Sagami bay. We support our findings by studying eleven swarm earthquakes in the period from 1974-1989. Conspicuous positive correlation exists in the variation in catch of fish and seismic activity during the eruption of Mt. Mihara on Oshima island and the Teishi submarine hill. We proposed a model of chemical material diffusing from a fault on the bottom to interpret the phenomena.