Understanding relationships between the spatiotemporal variability of fishery resources and marine environmental variables forms the basis of effective development and utilization of the northern South China Sea (NSCS) fishery resources. Decapterus maruadsi is one important pelagic economic fish which inhabits the coastal warm waters of the NSCS. We examine the spatiotemporal distribution and central of gravity (CoG) of D. maruadsi in the NSCS in spring and autumn from 2015 to 2017 with generalized additive models (GAMs), using fishing trawl data, and remote sensed sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), sea surface wind (SSW), chlorophyll a concentration (Chl-a), and the sea level anomaly (SLA) data. During spring D. maruadsi occurs mainly in a small area from 110.5–111 °E and 18.25–19.25 °N, at about 72 m, SST 24.4–26.8 °C, SSS 32.9–34.0 PSU, and SLA -0.04 to 0.04 m. During autumn these ranges shift to 112.25–114 °E and 20.25–21.25 °N, 62 m, 28.5–28.8 °C, and 33.4–34.1 PSU, respectively (D. maruadsi was insensitive to SLA during autumn). Accordingly, we deem the most important variables affecting the distribution of this species to be water depth and SSS in spring and SSS in autumn. CPUE of D. maruadsi was high in autumn and low in spring, with the CoG shifting from spring to autumn northwards by 0.4 °N and eastwards by 0.7 °E. This shift is likely influenced by this species’ life habits. Higher D. maruadsi CPUE in 2016 could partly be associated with La Nina and Typhoon climate anomalies. Our results provide a basis for scientific assessment and effective conservation of NSCS fishery resources.

了解渔业资源的时空变异与海洋环境变量之间的关系，是有效开发和利用南海北部渔业资源的基础。十足螯蟹是一种重要的中上层经济鱼类，栖息于NSCS的沿海温暖水域。我们使用渔网拖网数据和遥感海表温度（SST），通过广义加性模型（GAM）检验了2015年至2017年春季和秋季，NSCS中D. maruadsi的时空分布和重心（CoG ），海面盐度（SSS），海面风（SSW），叶绿素a浓度（Chl-a）和海平面异常（SLA）数据。春季D. maruadsi主要发生在110.5–111°E和18.25–19.25°N的小范围内，大约72 m，SST 24.4–26.8°C，SSS 32.9–34.0 PSU和SLA -0.04至0.04 m。在秋季，这些范围分别转变为112.25–114°E和20.25–21.25°N，62 m，28.5–28.8°C和33.4–34.1 PSU（D。maruadsi在秋季对SLA不敏感）。因此，我们认为影响该物种分布的最重要变量是春季的水深和SSS，秋季的SSS。D. maruadsi的CPUE秋季较高，春季较低，CoG从春季到秋季向北偏移0.4°N，向东偏移0.7°E。这种转变很可能受该物种的生活习惯影响。较高的D. maruadsi2016年的CPUE可能与拉尼娜和台风气候异常有关。我们的研究结果为科学评估和有效保护非小规模渔业资源提供了基础。