Direct estimation of stock abundance of Pacific saury Cololabis saira in the northwestern Pacific Ocean using a mid-water trawl

Drifting gill-nets were for a long time the main research gear for investigating the distribution of Pacific saury Cololabis saira. However, it has proven to be difficult to estimate the absolute abundance of saury using drifting gill-nets due to a lack of knowledge on the survey areas swept by these gill-nets. A mid-water trawl stock abundance estimation has the advantage of being able to estimate the absolute stock abundance before the commercial fishing season begins, whereas the conventional stock abundance estimation based on catch per unit efforts of commercial fisheries must be done after the commercial fishing season has ended. To confirm the practicality of a mid-water trawl to estimate the stock abundance of saury, we conducted a comparative survey in the northwestern Pacific Ocean using both a mid-water trawl and drifting gill-nets. We found that the geographic distribution pattern of catch per unit effort for both the mid-water trawl and driftnets was similar. Using the area-swept method and data on the fishing efficiency of the mid-water trawl obtained in a previous study, we were able to estimate the stock abundance plus confidence limits within the research areas. Our results suggest that the size composition of saury sampled by the mid-water trawl can be considered to approximate the actual size composition of saury.