Accelerating the use of emerging ocean observing technologies to monitor ecosystem change and supporting fisheries needs while protecting human health and safety

Abstract:

In June this year, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) released a report highlighting some important truths about the state of the world’s fisheries and aquaculture: In 2017, only 66 percent of fish stocks were estimated to be within biologically sustainable levels compared to 90 percent in 1974. Moreover, the percentage of stocks fished at biologically unsustainable levels has increased, especially in the late 1970s and 1980s, from 10 percent in 1974 to 34 percent in 2017. FAO also released a policy briefs related to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on fisheries and food security. The pandemic is not only impacting food trade, and food supply chains and markets, but also on monitoring and surveillance programs that collect data needed to manage fisheries. While commerce is beginning to understand the need for restraint, advances in fisheries data collection and monitoring have never been more important. Fortunately, numerous strategies and ocean observing technologies now exist that can help us fill the data gaps and create a global sustainable fishing industry. In this presentation, we first review emerging sensing technologies for selected major ecological and biological parameters relevant to fisheries science, and then we identify transformative directions for future development of cost-effective technologies and deployment strategies.