Research Article

Fishing areas characterisation using the SIMOcean platform

¹ Instituto Hidrográfico, Rua das Trinas, 49, 1249-093 Lisboa, Portugal
² Instituto Português do Mar e Atmosfera I.P., Rua C do Aeroporto, 1749-077 Lisboa, Portugal
³ Deimos Engenharia SA, Av. D. João II, Lote 1.17.01, 10°, Torre Zen, 1998-232 Lisboa, Portugal

^⁎ Corresponding author: luisa.lamas@hidrografico.pt

Received: 28 October 2016
Accepted: 3 May 2017

Abstract

In this study, the relationships between sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentration and catch locations of sardine (Sardina pilchardus) and Atlantic chub mackerel (Scomber colias) were explored using satellite-derived SST and Chl-a together with fishing activity data for the southern and southwestern Portuguese coasts for the period January 2014 to December 2015. Chl-a and SST conditions linked with high catches differed between sardine and chub mackerel. On the southwestern Portuguese coast, sardine catches were highest for SST ranging from 16 °C to 20 °C and Chl-a concentration below 4 mg m⁻³, while high chub mackerel catches were associated with a broader range of SST values (15–21 °C) and lower values of Chl-a (<2 mg m⁻³). On the south coast, both species had high catches for a broad range of SST conditions (14–22 °C for sardine and 12–24 °C for chub mackerel) and low Chl-a concentrations (<2.5 mg m⁻³ for sardine and <1.5 mg m⁻³ for chub mackerel). Daily presence–absence maps based on these intervals are part of the System for Integrated Monitoring of the Ocean platform.