last updated: 6 July 2001

Dasilao, Juanito Jr.

Juanito Dasilao, Jr. is presently a fisheries research scientist undergoing postdoctoral work at the National Research Institute of Fisheries Sciences, Kochi City, Japan under the sponsorship of Japan International Technology Exchance Center and Science and Technology Agency of Japan. His work is on the migration, distribution and abundance of fishes (flyingfishes and other pelagic fishes). He had been a researcher of Kochi University, Uhime University, and Usa Marine Biological Research Institute, Japan doing systematics and fisheries biological researches. He is a member of Japanese Society of Fisheries Science and The Ichthyological Society of Japan and an active contributor of fisheries researches. He took his BS in Fisheries at Iloilo State College of Fisheries, Philippines, MS in Fisheries at Kochi University, Japan, and PhD in Fisheries at Ehime University, Japan.

Research

Migration, Distribution and Abundance of Flyingfishes at the Pacific off Southern Japan and the East China Sea

The flyingfish family exocoetidae thriving in the waters of Japan, known as tobiuo in Japanese, are known to have 29 species ranging from small size species (Parexocoetus) to large size one (Cypselurus pinnatibarbatus japonicus) with some species having commercially and economically importance (Masuda et al., 1984). In the economic perspective, a volume of catch is taken along the Pacific coast off southern Japan (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 1962-99) where the warm current branched-off from the mainstream of Kuroshio to the nearby coast. In the recent years, the production of flyingfishes declined tremendously with unknown reason, hitherto. The occurrence and distribution of larva of flyingfishes is greatly affected by the oceanographic conditions, especially by the degree of the meander of Kuroshio. Horiki (1994) observed that the larva of flyingfishes species are principally distributed in the open sea and diffused into the Kii Channel.

This study will attempt to identify flyingfishes species composition and determine the factors influencing the distribution, migration and abundance of each species. It will further attempt to establish hypothesis on how some species are being transported, settled successfully in fisheries and diffused towards the coast and neighboring waters. This study will yield valuable information of more specific interest particularly the recent decline of this resource for effecient policy formulation and effective fisheries management.