Habitat characteristics and distribution of flyingfish in Fak Fak and surrounding waters

Abstract

In Indonesia, flyingfish are abundant and distributed in Makassar Strait, Flores Sea, Banda Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Maluku Sea, Arafura, Northern Sea of Papua, and Halmahera. The aims of this study were to analyse and describe the characteristics of flyingfish habitat, based on oceanographic conditions and eggs catches, and to visualize the variability in spatial and temporal patterns of predicted potential spawning grounds. The research was conducted in Fak-Fak and adjacent seas in the Indonesian Fisheries Area WPP 715, from 130o–134o E and 2oS–5o S. Data were collected during 2018 for selected months: June, July, August and September. Remote sensing data used in this study included chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) OCI-Algorithm, Sea Surface Temperature (SST) 11µ daytime, Absolute Dynamic Topography (ADT), Significant Wave Height and Ocean Surface Current (meridian and zonal components). Fishery data were collected from fishermen’s GPS units, and through participatory mapping. Based on the mapping of fishing locations of flyingfish fishermen, there were four locations where fishing frequency was high. The potential fishing grounds were approximately 5-40 miles from mainland of Fak-Fak. Chlorophyll-a concentration in Fak-Fak waters ranged from 0.201–2.13 mg/m3. The temperature was estimated to be in the range of 27-310C, with an average temperature of 27.10C. ADT only changed by 0.01 cm in height each month with a range between 0.88–1.02 cm. Wind was one of the driving forces of geostrophic current. The waves reached a peak in August, with heights ranging from 0.70 to 1.6 metre. Flyingfish were predominantly found in oceanic zones.