Baidai, Y., Dagorn, L., Amande, M. J., Gaertner, D., & Capello, M. (2020). Machine learning for characterizing tropical tuna aggregations under Drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (DFADs) from commercial echosounder buoys data. Fish Res., 229, 105613.
Résumé: The use of echosounder buoys deployed in conjunction with Drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (DFADs) has progressively increased in the tropical tuna purse seine fishery since 2010 as a means of improving fishing efficiency. Given the broad distribution of DFADs, the acoustic data provided by echosounder buoys can provide an alternative to the conventional CPUE index for deriving trends on tropical tuna stocks. This study aims to derive reliable indices of presence of tunas (and abundance) using echosounder buoy data. A novel methodology is presented which utilizes random forest classification to translate the acoustic backscatter from the buoys into metrics of tuna presence and abundance. Training datasets were constructed by cross-referencing acoustic data with logbook and observer data which reported activities on DFADs (tuna catches, new deployments and visits of DFADs) in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from 2013 to 2018. The analysis showed accuracies of 75 and 85 % for the recognition of the presence/absence of tuna aggregations under DFADs in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, respectively. The acoustic data recorded at ocean-specific depths (6-45m in the Atlantic and 30-150m in the Indian Ocean) and periods (4 a.m.-4 p.m.) were identified by the algorithm as the most important explanatory variables for detecting the presence of tuna. The classification of size categories of tuna aggregations showed a global accuracy of nearly 50 % for both oceans. This study constitutes a milestone towards the use of echosounder buoys data for scientific purposes, including the development of promising fisheries-independent indices of abundance for tropical tunas.
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Bonnin, L., Lett, C., Dagorn, L., Filmalter, J. D., Forget, F., Verley, P., et al. (2020). Can drifting objects drive the movements of a vulnerable pelagic shark? Aquat. Conserv.-Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst., .
Résumé: Juvenile silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis)regularly associate with floating objects yet the reasons driving this behaviour remain uncertain. Understanding the proportion of time that silky sharks spend associated with floating objects is essential for assessing the impacts of the extensive use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the tropical tuna purse-seine fisheries, including increased probability of incidental capture and the potential of an ecological trap. Previous studies provided insight into the amount of time that silky sharks spent at an individual FAD but were unable to assess neither the time spent between two associations nor the proportion of time spent associated/unassociated. The percentage of time that juvenile silky sharks spend unassociated with floating objects was estimated through the analysis of horizontal movements of 26 silky sharks monitored with pop-up archival tags. Under the assumption that a high association rate with drifting FADs would align the trajectories of tracked sharks with ocean surface currents, a novel methodology is proposed, based on the comparison of shark trajectories with simulated trajectories of passively drifting particles derived using a Lagrangian model. Results revealed that silky shark trajectories were divergent from surface currents, and thus unassociated with FADs, for at least 30% of their time. The potential of the methodology and the results are discussed in the context of increasing FAD densities in the Indian Ocean.
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Capello, M., Deneubourg, J. L., Robert, M., Holland, K. N., Schaefer, K. M., & Dagorn, L. (2016). Population assessment of tropical tuna based on their associative behavior around floating objects. Sci Rep, 6, 36415.
Résumé: Estimating the abundance of pelagic fish species is a challenging task, due to their vast and remote habitat. Despite the development of satellite, archival and acoustic tagging techniques that allow the tracking of marine animals in their natural environments, these technologies have so far been underutilized in developing abundance estimations. We developed a new method for estimating the abundance of tropical tuna that employs these technologies and exploits the aggregative behavior of tuna around floating objects (FADs). We provided estimates of abundance indices based on a simulated set of tagged fish and studied the sensitivity of our method to different association dynamics, FAD numbers, population sizes and heterogeneities of the FAD-array. Taking the case study of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) acoustically-tagged in Hawaii, we implemented our approach on field data and derived for the first time the ratio between the associated and the total population. With more extensive and long-term monitoring of FAD-associated tunas and good estimates of the numbers of fish at FADs, our method could provide fisheries-independent estimates of populations of tropical tuna. The same approach can be applied to obtain population assessments for any marine and terrestrial species that display associative behavior and from which behavioral data have been acquired using acoustic, archival or satellite tags.
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Filmalter, J. D., Cowley, P. D., Potier, M., Menard, F., Smale, M. J., Cherel, Y., et al. (2017). Feeding ecology of silky sharks Carcharhinus falciformis associated with floating objects in the western Indian Ocean. J. Fish Biol., 90(4), 1321–1337.
Résumé: The silky shark Carcharhinus falciformis is commonly associated with floating objects, including fish aggregating devices (FADs), in the Indian Ocean. While the motives for this associative behaviour are unclear, it does make them vulnerable to capture in the tuna purse seine fishery that makes extensive use of FADs. Here, the diet of 323 C. falciformis, caught at FADs in the Indian Ocean, was investigated to test the hypothesis that trophic benefits explain the associative behaviour. A high proportion of stomachs with fresh contents (57%) suggested that extensive feeding activity occurred while associated with FADs. Multiple dietary indices showed that typical non-associative prey types dominated, but were supplemented with fishes typically found at FADs. While the trophic benefits of FAD association may be substantial, our results suggest that associative behaviour is not driven solely by feeding. (C) 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles
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Govinden, R., Jauhary, R., Filmalter, J., Forget, F., Soria, M., Adam, S., et al. (2012). Movement Behaviour of Skipjack (Katsuwonus Pelamis) and Yellowfin (Thunnus Albacares) Tuna at Anchored Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) in the Maldives, Investigated by Acoustic Telemetry. Aquatic Living Resources, FirstView.
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