Lecture 5: Fishery resources and remote monitoring

Professor Yang Changming, Tongji University
Prepared by Zhang Jiefeng, Nanyang Technological University

Dr. Zhang’s lecture was based on the recent technological changes in management practices of ocean fishery resources in China. He stressed on the need to explore new fishery resources, so as to maintain a continuous supply with the increasing demand over the past few years.

His lecture demonstrated the use of satellite-based remote sensing technology and spatial modelling experiments to forecast the location of potential fishing grounds. Recent studies suggest increase in inshore fisheries and freshwater culture, and drastic decrease in ocean fishing. With the rapid population explosion in China, Dr. Zhang’s lecture stressed the fact that there needs to be a continuous supply of fishery resources, without completely exhausting the sources of extraction in oceans. The increasing water pollution and global warming have further aggravated the current situation, especially in oceans, which in turn have led to decrease in the number of available fish.

His lecture focused on the amount of fish catch and relative marine environmental factors required to successfully monitor fishery resources. His studies explored factors that could determine changes in catch per unit and length of such patterns. Various statistical models have been used in his studies including the Bayesian probability, GLM/GAM, and artificial intelligence. The satellite data used was MODIS at a spatial resolution of 250 m. Although his results were quite satisfactory and have been used by many stakeholders to improve their fishing catch, Dr. Zhang mentioned the predicting accuracy of such experiments being as low as 75%. However, with paucity in available data, such experiments are more or less quite satisfactory. Dr. Zhang and his team have also been involved in developing information monitoring system to help local fishermen in improving their daily/monthly fishery catches. He concluded his lecture by emphasizing the need to continuously monitor real-time marine fisheries, and also the importance of predicting potential fishing grounds. His major outcome was to find ways to increase the fish catches to its maximum efficiency and to decrease the time of searching for fishery resources.