AUTHOR=Fang Di-an , Zhou Yan-feng , Ren Peng , Peng Yun-xing , Xue Xiang-ping , Ren Long , Xu Dong-po 

TITLE=The Status of Silver Carp Resources and Their Complementary Mechanism in the Yangtze River

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.790614

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2021.790614

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=The global climate and environment vary can induce fish adaptive strategy change and form a corresponding complementary mechanism subsequently. Because of climate fluctuation, human activities and water conservancy projects, it has been reported that natural fish resources of the silver carp have been declining in a wavy trend from 1950. However, few studies have explored the potential effects determining the relationship between the adult fish and fish larvae. Using the field survey method, the current study analyzed the fisheries resource status of the adult silver carp and its early life stage in the Yangtze River. Results indicated that different geography populations showed significant habitat dependence, and the adult silver carp tend to choose habitats with slow water flow, rich biological bait and less human interference. What’s more, its distribution pattern has obviously regional and seasonal differences. Additionally, redundancy analysis on the fish larvae showed that water temperature and water flow are the two most important factors influencing the fish larvae blooming. According to the generalized additive model, the hydrological factors that have significant influence on the larvae abundance are water temperature, transparency, daily increasing rate of water level and discharge (p< 0.05). Combined with the historical and present research data, the results indicated that river and lake connected habitat is essential for the silver carp recruitment and migration. Future research will be focus on the complementary mechanism of silver carp both in the natural habitat and invasion waters. It is suggested that the spawning habitat should be well protected during the channel project and economic belt construction along the Yangtze River.