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Project M.1.c - Acoustic discrimination to avoid purse seine catches of undersized yellowfin tuna

01 Jan 2020 - 01 Dec 2023

Funded
Objectives
Reduce bycatches of small yellowfin in purse-seine sets.
Background
  • The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) has been supporting investigations of acoustic methods for discrimination among tuna species caught in purse-seine sets
  • Acoustic technologies could provide the ability to discriminate and avoid undersized yellowfin tuna by the purse-seine fishery to reduce the impacts of fishing operations and improve the sustainability of the fishery. 
  • To discriminate yellowfin from skipjack and bigeye, it is necessary to know the acoustic properties of yellowfin, in particular, the target strength (TS) and TS-fish length relationship.
  • Acoustic studies will be conducted on juvenile yellowfin (1-yr-old) held in a previously-deployed sea cage at the Achotines Laboratory 
  • The fundamental acoustic information obtained for yellowfin will then be compared to information previously obtained for skipjack and bigeye, hopefully enabling fishers to discriminate species before fishing
Relevance for management
Reduce the impacts of fishing and improve the sustainability of the fishery
Duration
36 months
Workplan and status
  • Early 2020 purchase materials used to anchor and deploy sea cage
  • January-April 2022 install sea cage and collect juvenile yellowfin in waters adjacent to the Achotines Laboratory
  • June 2021-April 2022 staging of ISSF acoustic equipment at Achotines Laboratory
  • May-June 2022 conduct acoustic trial
  • Late 2022 draft report of study results completed by ISSF researchers
  • Late 2022 workshop organized to present the results and discuss them with scientists and buoy manufacturers
External collaborators
International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) researchers Drs. Gala Moreno and Guillermo Boyra
Deliverables
  • Study report developed by ISSF researchers and workshop organized by ISSF
  • Publication of results by ISSF researchers in peer-reviewed journal