Project Funding: 2013 - 2018

NRA: 2012 NASA: Ecological Forecasting   

Funded by NASA

Abstract:
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Balancing sustainable ecological and economic objectives is a continuing challenge for fisheries managers. Many US fisheries harvest healthy target stocks, however, bycatch of non-target species is common, and can result in large-scale fishery closures. Technological advancements in remote sensing over the past decade have revolutionized the way fishermen target ocean resources and the amount of data available on the ocean environment. In partnership with the California drift gillnet fishery and National Marine Fisheries Service, we aim to use these data to balance protection of ecological resources and economic viability. The objective of this Feasibility Study Project is to evaluate the applicability of EcoCatch, a near real-time, multi-species fisheries management tool. Our approach will build on previous NASA- funded projects, TurtleWatch and WhaleWatch, that couple spatial data of protected species with remotely-sensed data to successfully reduce bycatch and other human impacts. We will use remotely sensed satellite oceanographic, fisheries and satellite tracking data to produce near-real time spatial models of target catch and bycatch, assimilating additional information from fishermen input. Our objective is to develop a predictive tool that will enhance conservation of protected and non-target species, while maintaining sustainability and profitability of the fishery. METHODS: Our case study will be the drift gillnet fishery (DGN), a small-scale fishery that targets swordfish and thresher sharks along the US West Coast. Although the target stock is healthy, bycatch, particularly of the leatherback sea turtle, has resulted in repeated legal action and large-scale fishery closures. We will use spatial modeling techniques to integrate remotely sensed oceanographic data, satellite telemetry data from the Tagging of Pacific Predators project, NOAA’s official on-board fishery observer database, as well as data collected by fishers themselves. Our efforts will focus on two target species (swordfish and thresher sharks) and three bycatch species (blue sharks, California sea lions, leatherbacks). The integration of data collected directly by fishers will come from a strong coalition of fisher partners who will contribute to the project by giving voluntary catch locations and environmental data for our model study species. Data collection will be facilitated using eCatch, a fishery management application for iPads. These valuable in situ observations can be fed into models as primary input data or for model validation. We will use these models to identify areas of conflict and opportunity for target and bycatch yield. To understand where fishermen are likely to concentrate effort, we will integrate this with spatially explicit fishing costs (e.g., distance from port, fuel costs) to determine where fishing is the most profitable. Finally, we will integrate these components to create a spatially explicit understanding of where fishing can occur to minimize impact on bycatch species, support profitability for fishermen, and inform decision-making by fisheries management. SIGNIFICANCE: This project will result in a tool with direct application for fisheries management. Our research team includes members of the Highly Migratory Species Management Team, which supports the Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC), the managing body of the drift gillnet fishery. Our management evaluation tool will aid in (1) determining where and when protected species are likely to occur while considering the socioeconomic context, giving the PMFC guidance on how to balance target and non- target catch; and (2) show the feasibility of near real-time management of this fishery that changes with environmental conditions. Our models and tools will also be made available to our fishermen partners so that they can voluntarily use it to increase fishing efficiency and avoid catching protected species.

Publications:

Brodie, S., Jacox, M. G., Bograd, S. J., Welch, H., Dewar, H., Scales, K. L., Maxwell, S. M., Briscoe, D. M., Edwards, C. A., Crowder, L. B., Lewison, R. L., Hazen, E. L. 2018. Integrating Dynamic Subsurface Habitat Metrics Into Species Distribution Models. Frontiers in Marine Science. 5. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00219

Hazen, E. L., Scales, K. L., Maxwell, S. M., Briscoe, D. K., Welch, H., Bograd, S. J., Bailey, H., Benson, S. R., Eguchi, T., Dewar, H., Kohin, S., Costa, D. P., Crowder, L. B., Lewison, R. L. 2018. A dynamic ocean management tool to reduce bycatch and support sustainable fisheries. Science Advances. 4(5). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aar3001

Komoroske, L. M., Lewison, R. L. 2015. Addressing fisheries bycatch in a changing world. Frontiers in Marine Science. 2. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2015.00083

Lewison, R. L., Johnson, A. F., Verutes, G. M. 2018. Embracing Complexity and Complexity-Awareness in Marine Megafauna Conservation and Research. Frontiers in Marine Science. 5. DOI: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00207

Lewison, R., Hobday, A. J., Maxwell, S., Hazen, E., Hartog, J. R., Dunn, D. C., Briscoe, D., Fossette, S., O'Keefe, C. E., Barnes, M., Abecassis, M., Bograd, S., Bethoney, N. D., Bailey, H., Wiley, D., Andrews, S., Hazen, L., Crowder, L. B. 2015. Dynamic Ocean Management: Identifying the Critical Ingredients of Dynamic Approaches to Ocean Resource Management. BioScience. 65(5), 486-498. DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biv018

Scales, K. L., Hazen, E. L., Jacox, M. G., Castruccio, F., Maxwell, S. M., Lewison, R. L., Bograd, S. J. 2018. Fisheries bycatch risk to marine megafauna is intensified in Lagrangian coherent structures. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115(28), 7362-7367. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1801270115

Welch, H., Hazen, E. L., Bograd, S. J., Jacox, M. G., Brodie, S., Robinson, D., Scales, K. L., Dewitt, L., Lewison, R. 2018. Practical considerations for operationalizing dynamic management tools. Journal of Applied Ecology. 56(2), 459-469. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13281

More details may be found in the following project profile(s):

• NASA Biological Diversity & Ecological Conservation (BDEC) Project Profile