- Objectives
- Design, in consultation with the IATTC staff and other relevant scientists, a shipbased line-transect survey for ETP dolphin species, including development of a comprehensive budget for implementation of the survey and analysis of survey results.
- Background
- Population dynamics modelling has been the preferred approach for evaluating the stock status of ETP dolphins, and those models have relied on estimates of abundance from fishery-independent surveys that were conducted by the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
- As a result of a hiatus in the NMFS surveys since 2006, there are currently no reliable indicators with which to monitor the status of ETP dolphin populations.
- This lack of information poses obvious problems for management. For example, the Antigua Convention requires that the status of all species potentially impacted by the tuna fisheries be monitored.
- In addition, abundance estimates are needed to ensure that incidental dolphin mortalities are both sustainable and insignificant, because the AIDCP stock mortality limits are based on estimates of abundance.
- These needs provide impetus for a new ship-based line-transect survey to obtain new estimates of absolute abundance so that population trends can be updated.
- Relevance for management
- Improve the management of dolphin stocks in the ETP.
- Duration
- 8 months
- Workplan and status
- January - May: draft a report with survey design and budget.
- June-August: obtain an external review of draft the draft report and revise as necessary.
- External collaborators
- University of St Andrews, Scotland
- Deliverables
- Presentation for SAC-09 (May 2018)
- Report and presentation for IATTC Annual Meeting in August 2018
- Updated date: 01 May 2019
- Progress summary for the reporting period
- Multiple survey design options were developed, and presented at SAC-09 in May 2018, and at the IATTC and AIDCP meetings in August 2018.
- MOP-37-02 Design of a survey for eastern tropical Pacific dolphin stocks
Presentation at SAC-09
Presentation at MOP-37
Presentation at IATTC-93