Exploitation pattern assessment of the Japanese mantis shrimp (Oratosquilla oratoria) resource in the coastal waters of the Shandong Peninsula

Abstract

The exploitation pattern of the invertebrate resource (Oratosquilla oratoria) was investigated in the coastal waters of the Shandong Peninsula, along with the seasonal variation in body length structure, spatial distribution in abundance, and interannual stock status. Results showed that the model with only catch data suggested both stocks in the north and south were suffering from extreme fishing pressure without explicit recovery (North: B₂₀₁₉/B_MSY = 0.468 and F₂₀₁₉/F_MSY = 1.88 in CMSY. South: B₂₀₁₉/B_MSY = 0.349 and F₂₀₁₉/F_MSY = 2.59 in CMSY). However, the other two assessment models indicated that the northern stock began to gradually recover as the fishing pressure dropped to an appropriate level after the original overfished status (North: B₂₀₁₉/B_MSY = 0.738 and F₂₀₁₉/F_MSY = 0.882 in AMSY, B₂₀₁₉/B_MSY = 0.831 and F₂₀₁₉/F_MSY = 0.774 in BSM. South: B₂₀₁₉/B_MSY = 0.164 and F₂₀₁₉/F_MSY = 1.44 in AMSY, B₂₀₁₉/B_MSY = 0.384 and F₂₀₁₉/F_MSY = 1.76 in BSM). Overall, the stock status in the north was better than that in the south. This study suggested that spatial exploitation pattern and quarterly differences should be considered in fishery management process.

Keywords: Data-limited methods; Exploitation pattern; Invertebrates; Oratosquilla oratoria; Spatial distribution; Stock assessment.