Deep learning-based fishing ground prediction with multiple environmental factors

Improving the accuracy of fishing ground prediction for oceanic economic species has always been one of the most concerning issues in fisheries research. Recent studies have confirmed that deep learning has achieved superior results over traditional methods in the era of big data. However, the deep learning-based fishing ground prediction model with a single environment suffers from the problem that the area of the fishing ground is too large and not concentrated. In this study, we developed a deep learning-based fishing ground prediction model with multiple environmental factors using neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) in Northwest Pacific Ocean as an example. Based on the modified U-Net model, the approach involves the sea surface temperature, sea surface height, sea surface salinity, and chlorophyll a as inputs, and the center fishing ground as the output. The model is trained with data from July to November in 2002–2019, and tested with data of 2020. We considered and compared five temporal scales (3, 6, 10, 15, and 30 days) and seven multiple environmental factor combinations. By comparing different cases, we found that the optimal temporal scale is 30 days, and the optimal multiple environmental factor combination contained SST and Chl a. The inclusion of multiple factors in the model greatly improved the concentration of the center fishing ground. The selection of a suitable combination of multiple environmental factors is beneficial to the precise spatial distribution of fishing grounds. This study deepens the understanding of the mechanism of environmental field influence on fishing grounds from the perspective of artificial intelligence and fishery science.