New technologies reveal mysteries of marine...( s underscoring the need for scientists...)

s, underscoring the need for scientists to share their findings with fishermen, managers, researchers and educators worldwide. A new, publicly accessible database developed under the Sloan Foundation's Census of Marine Life program will allow these stakeholders to see the distribution and movements of seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals in open ocean environments (see www.obis.env.duke.edu).

Resolving Conflicts

One of the most interesting applications of this research is the potential creation of new options for reducing conflicts between human activity and animals. Sea turtles, sea birds, and marine mammals frequently run into problems with fishing gear - often far from land or at depths where it is impossible to directly observe. Following the lives of these animals in detail for months or years is helping scientists and managers understand where and when such inadvertent kills occur, and how to avoid them.

In the North Pacific, for example, longline fishermen inadvertently catch loggerhead sea turtles when fishing for swordfish - a situation that is undesirable for turtles and fishermen alike. New analyses show that the turtles tend to aggregate near temperature gradients on the edges of warm water masses in the ocean. Mapping the location and depth of these temperature transition zones, and how they move over the course of a day or season, can help identify turtle "hotspots" for fishermen to avoid. Such measures could greatly reduce bycatch of this threatened species without the potential social and economic costs of closing an entire fishery or large regional area.

In the Gulf of Maine and elsewhere in the North Atlantic, harbour porpoises can become entangled in nets set for bottom dwelling fish like cod and flounder. Unable to reach the surface to breathe, they suffocate and die. Fisheries managers have implemented a series of conservation measures in an effort to red
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Contact: Jessica Brown
jbrown@seaweb.org
202-497-8375
SeaWeb
12-Feb-2004

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