From fisheries to scientific data: A protocol to process information from fishers' echo-sounder buoys

Abstract

Most of the drifting fish aggregating devices (DFADs) used by the industrial tropical tuna purse seine fishery are deployed with satellite linked echo-sounder buoys. These buoys provide information on the accurate geo-location of the floating object and estimates of fish biomass aggregated along the trajectory of the DFAD. This huge amount of information is provided in large and complex datasets consisting in rough estimations of biomass, which are not originally intended to be used for scientific purposes but for fishing. This study establishes a standardized protocol for cleaning raw data from fishers' echo-sounders buoys prior to their use for scientific purposes, in which potential errors are eliminated. In addition, the main advantages and limitations of the data are analyzed and discussed. This paper provides the first step towards the use and better understanding of fishers' echo sounder buoys for scientific research.