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Research projects

  • You can use the Project Search Tool below to browse over the staff’s research projects, including their brief summaries, that are currently under way, or planned for the near future and funded under the 5-year Strategic Science Plan (2019-2023). The summaries include, for each project, background information, a work plan, and a progress report, as well as details of its relevance and purpose, external collaborators, duration, and deliverables; also, for existing projects, an update on activities since the previous year’s report.

    This information can also be found on the IATTC-98b-Staff activities and research plan.

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    105 Project(s)
    O.1.c - A review of methods to determine prey consumption rates, gastric evacuation and daily ration of pelagic fishes: a precursor to experimental estimation for key predators in the EPO
    01 Jan 2019 - 31 Dec 2021
    Funded
    Objectives:
    • Review available methods to estimate prey consumption and gastric evacuation rates and daily ration to reliably estimate the consumption biomass ratio (Q/B) for tropical tunas and tuna-like fishes in ecosystem models being developed for the EPO.
    • Recommend a reliable method(s) that is feasible, practical and cost-effective for estimating Q/B for key predators in the EPO ecosystem.
    Completed
    Info/Docs
    O.2.a - Develop and implement analytical tools for understanding the trophic ecology of apex predators
    01 Jun 2018 - 01 Apr 2019
    Funded
    Objectives:
    • To further develop and validate statistical tools for the analysis of complex datasets in trophic studies of apex predators.
    • To enhance external collaborations and professional development through the analysis of Atlantic bluefin tuna diets in relation to biological and environmental variables.
    Info/Docs
    O.2.b - An updated ecosystem model of the tropical EPO for providing standardized ecological indicators for monitoring of ecosystem integrity
    01 Jun 2018 - 30 May 2021
    Funded
    Objectives:
    • Update the Ecopath ecosystem model developed for the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP) by Olson and Watters (2003).
    • Convert the model to Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) software version 6.5.
    • Update the model with annual catch, discards, fishing mortality and fishing effort data for each functional group from 1993 to present.
    • Calibrate the model with new catch and effort time series to improve the reliability of model forecast outputs.
    • Produce annual ecological indicators for inclusion in the Ecosystems Considerations report as standardized measures of ecosystem integrity.
    Info/Docs
    O.2.c - Temporal network analysis of bycatch communities caught in purse-seine fisheries
    01 May 2021 - 31 May 2023
    Funded
    Objectives:
    • Investigate the connectivity among bycatch species caught in the purse-seine fishery and how the structure of these community relationships changes over time and space (if feasible) in the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO).
    • Investigate the vulnerability of those connections and the role of key bycatch species for the community/network
    Info/Docs
    O.2.d - Develop a workplan for restructuring IATTC’s Ecosystem Considerations into (1) an indicator-based EcoCard and (2) a complementary Ecosystem Status Assessment for the EPO
    Objectives:
    To use ongoing work by tuna-Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (t-RFMO’s) to inform a workplan to restructure the Ecosystem Considerations document into two ecosystem-advice products for management consideration (1) an Ecosystem Report Card (“EcoCard”) consisting of indicators considered to best represent ecosystem status on an ecoregion level and (2) a corresponding Ecosystem Status Assessment detailing ecosystem status. Together, these products aim to support possible operationalization of the Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries Management (EAFM) in the EPO. To improve communication of ecosystem status and harmonize with t-RFMOs.
    Info/Docs
    O.2.e - Develop a workplan to promote climate resilient fisheries at IATTC
    Objectives:
    To discuss the current work that IATTC is doing to understand and prepare for the effects of climate change, highlight various tools and frameworks that other countries and international organizations have developed to promote climate-resilient fisheries, and propose a climate change workplan for IATTC that will allow us to better understand, account for, and prepare for the impacts climate change may have on fisheries, its target species, non-target species, and the EPO
    ecosystem.
    Info/Docs
    P.1.a - Fulfil requests for development of database and data processing applications for entities outside the IATTC
    Funded
    Objectives:
    Provide support to CPCs through the development of data collection forms and the most appropriate computer application to allow the collection, entry, editing and analysis of locally-collected datasets.
    Ongoing
    Info/Docs
    P.1.b - Respond to requests for scientific analyses
    Funded
    Objectives:
    Respond to requests by CPCs and other entities in a timely manner
    Ongoing
    Info/Docs
    Q.1.a - Achotines Laboratory support of Yale University’s Environmental Leadership Training Initiative (ELTI) in Panama
    01 Apr 2018 - 31 Mar 2022
    Funded
    Objectives:
    To support the ELTI objectives of facilitating cooperation, training and research on the conservation, rehabilitation and restoration of forest lands and watersheds in Panama, and to conserve coastal and marine living resources and ecosystems
    Info/Docs
    R.1.a - Workshop on training, communication and evaluation of management strategies for tuna fisheries in the EPO
    01 Jun 2018 - 31 Aug 2018
    Funded
    Objectives:
    Provide training and enhance communication between scientists and managers on management objectives, harvest strategies and management strategy evaluation (MSE).
    Completed
    Info/Docs