Exploring the Response of the Japanese Sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) Stock-Recruitment Relationship to Environmental Changes under Different Structural Models

Japanese sardines (Sardinops melanostictus) are environmentally sensitive pelagic fish. We investigated the effects of environmental factors on stock-recruitment (S-R) relationship S. melanostictus in Pacific Ocean from 1984 to 2018. modeled and analyzed recruitment using Ricker model, environment extension model (Ricker-E), generalized additive (GAM). Different numbers were added models for fitting, Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used select optimal model. The results showed that nonlinear GAM provided best fit. single factor multifactor analysis significantly correlated with (p < 0.05). fitting GAM, an AIC 57.9 a cumulative explanation rate 95.7%. Sea surface temperature most dominant had negative impact R/S. Considering both spawning stock biomass (S) S-R is important studying mechanisms complementary changes population under influence marine environment.