Utilization of scatterplot smoothers to understand the environmental preference of bigeye tuna in the southern waters off Java-Bali: Satellite remote sensing approach

Abstract

The southern waters off Java-Bali were recognized as spawning and potential fishing ground for tuna species. However, few studies have been conducted on this area. In this paper, the environmental preference of bigeye tuna was assessed based on catch data and three main environmental satellite data; namely; sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface chlorophyll (SSC), and sea surface height deviation (SSHD). Then, the relationship between bigeye tuna catches and environmental satellite data was analyzed by using a simplified method of the Generalized Additive Model (GAM) which is called scatterplot smoothers. This method is the forerunner of GAM and has not yet been applied for fisheries analysis. The aim of this study was to evaluate its performance for/in analyzing bigeye tuna habitat preference. The result indicated that SST, SSC, and SSHD had a high correlation with the bigeye tuna’s spatial patterns. Furthermore, spatial patterns of bigeye tuna preference display typical characteristics of low SST, low SSC, and low positive SSHD as well as areas with extreme SSHD values, which are almost the same results as those identified with GAM analysis in the same study area.