Received: 27 November 2018 | Revised: 18 February 2019 | Accepted: 20 March 2019 DOI: 10.1111/fog.12432 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Correlation of changes in seasonal distribution and catch of red sea bream Pagrus major with winter temperature in the eastern Seto Inland Sea, Japan (1972–2010) Masayuki Yamamoto1 | Hiroaki Omi2 | Naotaka Yasue3 | Akihide Kasai4 1Kagawa Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, Takamatsu, Kagawa, Japan Abstract 2Marine Fisheries Research Center, Research Red sea bream Pagrus major is a commercially important fish in Japan. In eastern Institute of Environment, Agriculture and Seto Inland Sea (SIS), the catch has increased from 297 tons in 1972 to 2,039 tons Fisheries, Sennan, Osaka, Japan 3Hidaka Promotions Bureau, Gobo, in 2010. We examined the relationship, 1972–2010, between increase in catch and Wakayama, Japan winter temperature, based on the catch in February and March and the lowest water 4 Faculty of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido temperature at 10 m depth. In 1972–1986, the lowest water temperatures in the University, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan inner SIS areas (Osaka Bay, Harima‐nada, and Bisan‐seto) were <8°C, which is physi‐ Correspondence ologically unfavorable for red sea bream. However, in 1987–2010 temperatures were Masayuki Yamamoto, Kagawa Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station, Takamatsu, generally ≥8°C. In the inner areas, the catch during winter had been minimal until the Kagawa 761–0111, Japan. early 1980s, presumably because most red sea breams moved to the Kuroshio‐in‐ Email:
[email protected] fluenced (warmer) Kii Channel area. However, the winter catch in the inner areas of Funding information SIS increased from the late 1980s with warm winters.