Satellite Applications within Fisheries and Marine Sanctuaries Cara Wilson

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Satellite Applications within Fisheries and
Marine SanctuariesCara Wilson
3rd NOAA Ocean Satellite Data Course, Mar 24, 2008
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?
Satellite data can NOT directly measure
populations of fish, lobsters, whales, turtles,
etc.
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Satellite data measures oceanic parameters of
habitat and ecosystems that influence marine
resources
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Ocean Features Important to Ecosystems

• Ocean fronts, boundaries, edges
• River plumes
• Coastal regions
• Mesoscale circulation patterns eddies, meanders,
  loops
• Convergence zones
• Subsurface thermal structure MLD, thermocline
• Ocean surface winds
• Ocean currents
• Wave heights

All of these ocean features can be measured,
detected, or inferred by satellite data
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Temporal Events Important to Ecosystems

• Upwelling
• Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs)
• Oil Spills
• Seasonal Transitions
• El Niño events
• Regime Shifts (i.e. PDO)
• Global Climate Change

Climate change can affect the timing and/or
intensity of many of these processes
Climate Data Records (CDRs) of satellite
measurements need to be maintained!
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Oceanic Food Web
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Fishing
Marinemammals
Tuna, billfish
4 3 2 1
Largesquids
Misc.fish
Small squids
Small pelagics
Mesopelagics
Trophic Level
Benthic fish
Large zooplankton
Benthic invertebrates
Small zooplankton
Detritus
Phytoplankton
Modified from Pauly Christensen 1993
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Linkages
Ware Thomson Science, 2003
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Linkages
Upwelling Downwelling
Ware Thomson Science, 2003
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Timing of the Spring bloom and Haddock Survival
(Melanogrammus aeglefinus)
Late Early
Test of the match-mismatch hypothesis Annual
anomaly in the timing of the spring bloom based
on SeaWiFS chlorophyll data
Earlier bloom means more time in the green zone
From Platt et al., Nature, 2003
Early Late
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Ecosystem Advisories
Published twice a year by NMFS/NEFSC
Uses satellite SST chlorophyll data
www.nefsc.noaa.gov/omes/OMES
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Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) detection
NOAA National Ocean Service
Operational Monitoring and Forecasting of HABs in
the Gulf of Mexico
Courtesy of Rick Stumpf, NOS
Orbimage - SeaWiFS
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Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) detection
Distributed to Local/State/Federal Government
Page 2
Page 1
Courtesy of Rick Stumpf, NOS
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Ghostnet Program - Rationale
Minimize navigation hazards Reduce wasteful
Ghost fishing
Protect endangered species
Maintain healthy coral reef ecosystems
Collaboration between Airborne Technologies
Inc. NOAA Research/ETL NOAA Satellites and
Information/ORA NOAA Fisheries/SWFSC/ERD
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Ghostnet Results
Pichel et al., Mar. Pollut. Bull. (2007)
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Putting It All Together
Pichel et al., Mar. Pollut. Bull. (2007)
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Tagged Species
Electronic tagging is a key methodology used by
NOAA Fisheries to gather information on stock
productivity and recruitment, fish behavior,
feeding ecology and habitat selection
information needed for accurate and responsible
fisheries management.1 Satellite data, such as
ocean color, SST, SSH and SVW, are necessary to
place the telemetric data from tags in an
environmental context as part of the transition
to an ecosystem approach to management.
1Report of the NMFS Workshop on advancing
electronic tag technologies and their use in
stock assessment. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-82,
82 pp, 2007. http//spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/tm
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Defining Salmon Ocean Habitat
Temperature and depth tag (not a cigarette!)
NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC ERD
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Chinook Potential Habitat
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Probability Density
OR
OR
Surface Temp
CA
CA
Satellite SST
Density of fishs temperature experience at the
surface from tag data
Contours of utilization likely fish location
NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC PFEL
Hinke et al., MEPS, 2005 NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC
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Link to Behavioral Modifications
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Modeling Habitat in Chinook fishery

• Allows temporal resolution similar to closures
• Allows spatial and temporal resolution of
  upwelling and relaxation events which shape
  habitat

NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC PFEL
J.T. Hinke, G. Watters, C. Bessey, M. Snover,
NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC ERD
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Characterizing Turtle Habitat
Nov 2003
Oct 2003
Dec 2003
Jan 2004
Loggerhead turtle tracks (black line and blue
arrows)
NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC PFEL
Polovina et al., DSR-II, 2006 NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC
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Characterizing Turtle Habitat
Nov 2003
Oct 2003
Dec 2003
Jan 2004
Loggerhead turtle tracks (black line and blue
arrows) overlaid over geostrophic currents
(white arrows) and SSH.
NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC PFEL
Polovina et al., DSR-II, 2006 NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC
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Understanding Turtle Migration Patterns
150 120 90 60 30 0 150 120 90 60 30 0
Winter Summer
Turtles prefer the Kuroshio Extension Current
(KEC) in winter when chlorophyll is high. In
summer, when chlorophyll decreases, they migrate
north into the TZCF (transitional zone
chlorophyll front).
Turtle Residency (days) Turtle Residency
(days)
KEC
30 33 36 39 42 45 Latitude
Polovina et al., DSR-II, 2006 NOAA/NMFS/PIFSC
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EOD TurtleWatch
www.pifsc.noaa.gov/eod/turtlewatch.php

• An experimental product to reduce interactions
  between Hawaii-based longline fishing vessels and
  loggerhead turtles
• PIFSC/EODTW provides daily updates of the changes
  in the dynamic recommended area of avoidance
  north of 18.5ºC (65.5ºF)
• Distributed daily in electronic and paper format
  to the Hawaii longline industry

Avoid fishing north of black line
Funded in part by NASA and by NOAAs RO project
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Chlorophyll Fronts
Frontal location provides fundamental information
on variability of oceanic features needed for
ecosystem-based fishery management. In the
Northeast this is particularly relevant to
management of northern shrimp, herring and marine
mammals.
SeaWiFS data from 1998-2006
A NOAA RO funded project.
Jay OReilly and Kimberly Hyde - NOAA/NMFS NEFSC
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Right Whale Forecast


Whale feeding areas


Biggest source of mortality to highly endangered
(lt400 left) Right Whales is ship strikes. Ability
to predict their location will help NOAA minimize
ship traffic in those regions.
Pershing and Monger, Cornell University, funded
by NOAAs Right Whale Grants Program
www.geo.cornell.edu/whales
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Discovering Habitat?
35N 30N 25N 20N
Large recurrent chlorophyll blooms discovered
with satellite data in the middle of the
oligotrophic Pacific gyre. The blooms occur
within the target area of several fisheries,
including albacore and swordfish, but their
impact on higher trophic levels is not known.
gt 500 km in diameter
Oct 2000
150W 140W
130W
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15
0.20 0.25 0.30 SeaWiFS Chlorophyll
(mg/m3)
Wilson, GRL, 2003 Wilson et al., JMS, 2008
NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC
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Eddy Fields Habitat
Figure courtesy of Dave Foley
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Bon Appetit Hypothesis
Changes in eddies over time could be important
Figure courtesy of Dave Foley
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Agenda - Day 1b
3rd NOAA Ocean Satellite Data Course
Monday afternoon, Mar. 24, 2008 Digital Earth
Classroom 210 Wilkinson Hall 200-230 Group
Introductions 230-300 Where, when, which
and how? (of satellite data usage) Dave Foley
300-430 Intro to ArcSatellite Luke Spence
430-500 Group Discussion 500-??? Conti
nue group discussion at Bombs Away
Please note No food or drink is allowed in the
computer classroom