Satellite Monitoring of sea Surface Temperature and Chlorophyll for Sustainable Fishing.

Here we will discuss two specific examples of how satellite data is being used to support the management of sustainable fisheries. The first example is a model to predict the potential sardine habitat along the US West Coast that relies on sea-surface temperature and chlorophyll data from JPSS VIIRS. The predicted habitat distribution is used to optimize the ship survey cruises conducted as part of the Pacific sardine stock assessment. The second example is the EcoCast model, which was developed as an effort to help minimize fishery bycatch. EcoCast identifies regions within the Pacific swordfish fishing grounds where the bycatch of protected and endangered species ([leatherback turtle, blue shark, and California sea lion) is less likely. This model also uses sea-surface temperature and chlorophyll data from JPSS VIIRS as two of its data inputs. Outputs from both the sardine habitat and EcoCast models are available on the NOAA CoastWatch West Coast Node ERDDAP server.