November 24, 2021 — The pelagic ocean covers over 50 percent of the planet’s surface and many of the species that call it home travel thousands of miles each year, seeking food and suitable nursery grounds. Some of these species end up in your favorite sushi—like Bigeye tuna—while others are some of the most imperiled on the planet, like leatherback sea turtles. Catching one without catching the other has challenged commercial fishers, scientists and fisheries managers to develop innovative solutions.
“In the last several decades, we have seen major improvements to bycatch reduction,” said T. Todd Jones, Fisheries Research and Monitoring Division director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. “We see as much as a 60 to 90 percent reduction in bycatch rates for endangered marine turtles due to gear improvement, for example. The goal is to refine that further.”
Recent efforts by UF/IFAS researchers attempt to do just that by drawing imaginary lines in the vast, open ocean, a seemingly impossible task. But using artificial intelligence, scientists are making progress toward protecting endangered species that are not meant to be caught.