These operational dynamic management tools use near real-time environmental, biological, societal, and/or economic data to recommend management actions that are aligned with current conditions, supporting the sustainable use of marine resources.
OPC Farallons is a predictive decision support tool designed to help the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Program (RAMP) make management decisions to reduce blue and humpback whale entanglement risk. Each day, the tool produces distribution maps for both whale species and their prey (krill and anchovy), as well as indicators of species presence with the RAMP fishing zones.
EcoCast is a real-time data tool to help fishers and managers allocate fishing effort to optimize the harvest of target fish while minimizing bycatch of protected species. The EcoCast Map product combines the predicted distributions of target catch species and bycatch species into a single map that suggests better and poorer locations to fish off the US West Coast.
Check out the tool here
Operationalization code
Relevant papers:
Hazen, Elliott L., et al. Science advances 4.5 (2018): eaar3001. [link]
Welch, Heather, et al. Journal of Applied Ecology 56.2 (2019): 459-469. [link]
Welch, Heather, et al. Conservation Biology 34.3 (2020): 589-599. [link]
Welch, H., et al. Remote sensing of Environment 242 (2020): 111753. [link]
WhaleWatch2.0 is a predictive spatial management tool that helps scientists and managers evaluate the most likely times and places that blue whales will be present along the U.S. West Coast in order to inform management decisions and mitigate risk of ship strikes, bycatch, or other threats. This is the latest dynamic model for blue whales. Blue whales are an Endangered Species, with roughly 1500 whales estimated in the migratory Eastern North Pacific Population off of the U.S. West Coast. This population is threatened by ship strikes, which are the largest source of mortality, as well as bycatch in fishing gear. Previous models for blue whales in the California Current Ecosystem include the original WhaleWatch effort and a climatological ensemble model that provides a best seasonal estimate from multiple data sources and modeling approaches.
Operationalization code
Relevant papers:
Abrahms, Briana, et al. Diversity and Distributions 25.8 (2019): 1182-1193. [link]
Hazen, Elliott L., et al. Journal of Applied Ecology 54.5 (2017): 1415-1428. [link]
Top Predator Watch is a dynamic ocean management tool that produces daily predictions of the distributions of 14 top predator species: blue (Prionace glauca), mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), white (Carcharodon carcharias), and salmon (Lamna ditropis) sharks; albacore (Thunnus alalunga), yellowfin (T. albacares), and bluefin (T. thynnus) tunas; blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), sooty shearwaters (Ardenna grisea), California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), black-footed (Phoebastria nigripes) and Laysan (P. immutabilis) albatross; elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) and leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). From these predictions we extract core habitat – the locations where each species is most likely to be found based on current environmental conditions.
The Temperature Observations To Avoid Loggerheads (TOTAL) tool was designed as an additional metric to guide the timing of the Loggerhead Conservation Area. The TOTAL tool consists of an indicator and a threshold (Welch et al. 2018). The indicator is a time-series of monthly temperature anomalies in the Southern California Bight smoothed by the preceding six months. The threshold is reference point, over which increased loggerhead bycatch has been demonstrated to occur.
Check out the tool here
Relevant papers:
Welch, Heather, et al.Ecological Indicators 98 (2019): 657-664. [link]
The Atlantic Sturgeon Forecast tool helps fishermen avoid Atlantic sturgeon, which are accidentally caught when searching for other species. Fishermen who subscribe to the alert system receive a text telling them in what areas of the Delaware Bay and at what water depths Atlantic sturgeon are most likely to be found, allowing them to avoid the vulnerable species when targeting other fish. The product is developed for mature Atlantic Sturgeon using historic telemetry observations matched to date, bathymetry, and sea surface temperature and ocean color from NPP-VIIRS satellite. There are five regions (Delaware River, Upper Delaware Bay, Middle Delaware Bay, Lower Delaware Bay, and Atlantic Ocean) and each of them is divided into 5 meter depth bins.