AIMM x University of Alaska Southeast

Project’s goal: use of drones to evaluate whether dolphin calves may become separated from their mothers during tuna purse seine fishing operations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP).

AIMM in collaboration with the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS), were awarded a project funded by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the Pacific Alliance for Sustainable Tuna (PAST).  This project has the objective to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, to evaluate whether dolphin calves may become separated from their mothers during tuna purse seine fishing operations in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP).
The project is funded by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the Pacific Alliance for Sustainable Tuna (PAST).

Despite a more than 99% reduction in observed mortality in the fishery, the last abundance surveys conducted by the US National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) in 2006, suggested that ETP populations of spinner dolphin and pantropical spotted dolphin might not be recovering as quickly as might be expected, in the absence of fishery-based mortality. One of several hypothesis about this possible inhibition of recovery suggested that mother-calf separation might be a source of cryptic mortality not detected by fisheries observers on the decks of purse-seine vessels. This question and uncertainty have not been addressed convincingly in past decades.

This project will provide us with an exceptional opportunity to showcase our skills, bring new insights about this question and contribute to the improvement of the sustainability of tuna purse seine fishing operations in the ETP.

We would like to express our gratitude to our team members and our colleagues from the University of Alaska Southeast who contributed to the proposal development. Also, to the IATTC for the trust in our project and for supporting us to address this important conservation issue.

As we move forward, we will communicate further details about the project on this page and on our social media.

15 May 2023

Our President and Founder Dr. Joana Castro and Dr. Heidi Pearson from the University of Alaska Southeast are heading to California, USA, to attend the IATTC 14th Meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee.