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CoastWatch/OceanWatch satellite data that are utilized for fisheries research and management include sea surface temperature, sea surface winds, ocean color and sea surface height.
Sea surface temperature is used to identify and evaluate habitat conditions for fisheries and aquaculture features as well as identify physical features such as fronts and upwelling zones where certain species are known to aggregate.
Ocean color is used to provide information about a variety of issues related to fisheries and aquaculture including phytoplankton biomass, harmful algal blooms and water clarity.
Ocean currents, ocean color and sea surface temperature are important for predicting the location of endangered species at risk for bycatch and fisheries relevant species.
Sea surface height is used in conjunction with sea surface temperature and chlorophyll to identify oceanographic features and processes of relevance to fisheries such as eddies and ENSO variability El Niño and La Niña.
| The EcoCast tool uses habitat suitability models and satellite-derived environmental data to predict where broadbill swoardfish and three bycatch species (leatherback turtle, blue shark and California sea lion) are likely to be each day. Daily EcoCast maps help fishers identify fishing spots minimize fisheries bycatch and maximize fisheries target catch. |
| The jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas), also known as the Humbolt squid, is an economically important fisheries species in the Eastern Pacific, currently accounting for approximately one third of the world's squid landings. Sea surface temperature and sea surface height data from NOAA OceanWatch Central Pacific node was used to research movements of their fishing ground. |
| Fisheries bycatch has been implicated as a contributing factor in the population decline of endangered Pacific loggerhead turtles. In order to reduce interactions between longline fishing vessels based in Hawaii and loggerhead sea turtles, the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center created an experimental information product called TurtleWatch. |
