Some of our projects
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North Atlantic fisheries data
We're using our experience with vessel positional data in the eastern Pacific, the Gulf and the Caribbean to aid in the analysis of fisheries data in the North Atlantic. With this project we will help building accurate and informative fisheries datasets that will feed the beautiful NorthEast Ocean Data Portal helping making these important datasets freely available to the public. Status: Ongoing Partners: Northeast Regional Ocean Council, University of Rhode Island, NOAA NEFSC (USA) |
Using Vessel Positional Data for Stock Assessment
Vessel positional data tracks where fishing vessels go and provides a wealth of information useful to fisheries management. With this project we are assessing how we can use this information already gathered by many fisheries agencies around the world to inform stock assessments and promote the sustainability of our fisheries resources.
Status: Ongoing
Partners: NOAA SEFSC (USA)
Vessel positional data tracks where fishing vessels go and provides a wealth of information useful to fisheries management. With this project we are assessing how we can use this information already gathered by many fisheries agencies around the world to inform stock assessments and promote the sustainability of our fisheries resources.
Status: Ongoing
Partners: NOAA SEFSC (USA)
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A web Platform for fisheries data
We have worked for years producing accurate datasets mapping fisheries activity in the Gulf of America (previously the Gulf of Mexico). It is time to share the information and allow the public to see it and use it! With this project we designed a Fisheries Information Platform so the public can not only see the maps of fishing activity, but extract quantitative information from them. We worked on the concept, produced the datasets and designed the web with Sulfato Mix, and myAcorn Limited developed the web map application. Status: Finished (2025) Partners: NOAA SEFSC (USA), myAcorn Limited (UK), Sulfato Mix (Venezuela) |
Mapping fishing territories
Fishers habitually visit certain fishing grounds creating de facto territories that can be mapped. We used movement ecology, landscape ecology and home range analyses to provide a methodological framework for the delineation of fishing territories and quantitative tools to analyze them. The concept of fishing territories is extremely useful for spatial planning, and we also explored how to link it to the concept of social vulnerability at sea.
Status: Finished (2025)
Partners: NOAA SEFSC (USA)
Fishers habitually visit certain fishing grounds creating de facto territories that can be mapped. We used movement ecology, landscape ecology and home range analyses to provide a methodological framework for the delineation of fishing territories and quantitative tools to analyze them. The concept of fishing territories is extremely useful for spatial planning, and we also explored how to link it to the concept of social vulnerability at sea.
Status: Finished (2025)
Partners: NOAA SEFSC (USA)
Planning for aquaculture in the Gulf
With many marine fish stocks already overfished, but demand for food rising, a large proportion of our seafood now comes from aquaculture. But by putting sites aside for aquaculture development we are taking area that was used for other activities such as wild fishing or navigation. This project looks at modeling the socioeconomic impacts of setting aquaculture sites in the Gulf of America. From this work we published a review and a research article.
Status: Finished (2023)
Project partners: NOAA SEFSC (USA)
With many marine fish stocks already overfished, but demand for food rising, a large proportion of our seafood now comes from aquaculture. But by putting sites aside for aquaculture development we are taking area that was used for other activities such as wild fishing or navigation. This project looks at modeling the socioeconomic impacts of setting aquaculture sites in the Gulf of America. From this work we published a review and a research article.
Status: Finished (2023)
Project partners: NOAA SEFSC (USA)
Ecosystem-based fisheries management plan
We're helping building an ecosystem-based fisheries management plan for the US Caribbean. Ecosystem-based management is a holistic approach that aims at managing all: land, waters, the living resources in them, and us, humans, in an integrated way, to promote conservation and sustainable resource use. We’re working on the first step of this plan which allows to understand the drivers of this complex socio-ecological system. We're helping making a roadmap to identify key variables driving the system and gathering data that could help us understanding it.
Status: Finished (2024)
Project partners: University of Puerto Rico, Institute for Socio-Ecological Research (Puerto Rico) and University of New Haven (USA)
We're helping building an ecosystem-based fisheries management plan for the US Caribbean. Ecosystem-based management is a holistic approach that aims at managing all: land, waters, the living resources in them, and us, humans, in an integrated way, to promote conservation and sustainable resource use. We’re working on the first step of this plan which allows to understand the drivers of this complex socio-ecological system. We're helping making a roadmap to identify key variables driving the system and gathering data that could help us understanding it.
Status: Finished (2024)
Project partners: University of Puerto Rico, Institute for Socio-Ecological Research (Puerto Rico) and University of New Haven (USA)
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Spatial behavior of the Eastern Tropical Pacific commercial fishing fleet
With this work we linked vessel positional data showing where fishers fish, to logbook data showing what they caught to map commercial fishing use in the Easter Tropical Pacific Tuna fishery. We then used sequential discrete choice models to model the spatial and temporal fishing behavior in this region and the response to hypothetical fishing closures. Status: Finished (2023) Project partners: University of California Davis, Pew Foundation, NOAA SEFSC (USA) |
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Red tides impacts in fisheries
Red tides are blooms of tiny algae that can kill marine organisms and affect human health. With this project, we assessed the effects that red tides have had in fishing activity along the west Florida coast. We published some of our findings here. Status: Finished (2022) Project partners: NOAA SEFSC, University of Florida (USA) |
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Prioritizing reefs in the Caribbean
We all dream with a Caribbean reef island. Turquoise water. Warm sand, beautiful sealife. But human activities and climate change are threatening reefs and the livelihoods of people that depend on them. With this project we used climate change predictions, remote sensing and modeled data to identify Caribbean reefs that are more likely to withstand imminent climate impacts. These reefs will be priority for management actions directed to protect, restore and sustainably use these sites. You can read about this work in Global Change Biology It was covered by the BBC and Cool Green Science! Status: Finished (2022) Project partners: TNC (Dominican Republic and USA) |
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Spatial behavior of the Atlantic Highly Migratory species fishery
With this work we linked vessel positional data showing where fishers fish, to logbook data showing what they caught to map fishing for Highly Migratory Species in the North Atlantic and the Gulf. Status: Finished (2022) Project partners: NOAA NMFS, NOAA SESFC (USA) |
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Valuing marine fishery systems
We are valuing marine fishery systems by considering both, the value of the catch, and how much fish inside the water is worth. Using population models, we can also look ahead and value marine ecosystems in the future after different management actions are taken (for example, after reducing fishing effort or implementing marine reserves). This comprehensive piece uses detailed in situ data of fish catches and underwater surveys of fish biomass, as well as modeled data. Status: Finished (2022) Project partners: Rare (USA) |
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Mapping sediments
We're mapping sediment fractions in the Gulf of America and the US South Atlantic. From a bunch of samples, We produced maps for the region using geostatistical analyses and spatial interpolation. For this project we are using compositional kriging, which is great at handling this type of data. This is a challenging, big data task! The maps will help efforts in this intensively studied region, such as mapping habitat suitability, species distributions, or identifying fishing grounds. The published dataset is available here. Status: Finished (2021) Project partner: NOAA SEFSC (USA) |
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Reserve design to benefit both fish and people
We want people to fish forever. Combining GIS, spatial analyses, marine spatial planning and spatially explicit population models we are choosing reserve locations (sites closed to fishing) that will maximize benefits to fishers. When reserves are placed appropriately, marine resources thrive and can "spillover" to nearby areas contributing to local fisheries by replenishing marine resources. So far we have worked in the Mesoamerican reef , the Philippines and Indonesia with this ambitious project. Some outputs here and here. Status: Finished (2021) Project partners: Rare, Louisiana State University (USA), Deakin University (Australia) and University of Leeds (UK) |
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Depleted fish spawning aggregations
Fish spawning aggregations are a spectacular sight. For many species these events occur at the same spot year after year, and are critical areas for protection. But because of overfishing, many spawning aggregation sites are now depleted and aggregations no longer form there. Should we then include them or skip them in management plans? This project aims to answer this challenging and important question. Find the answer here! (Photo by Mark Priest) Status: Finished (2020) Project partners: LGL Ecological Research (USA), Comunidad y Biodiversidad A. C. (Mexico), University of Queensland (Australia) |
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Fish marine biogeography
For this project we looked at biogeographical patterns of reef fish in the wider Caribbean using information from different databases. Will we get the same answer if we ask the same question to different databases? The short answer is: No! If you want to know more about it read our Fish and Fisheries paper here Status: Finished (2020) Project partners: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (Panama) |
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Fishers personalities from vessel movement data
We have worked tracking the position of fishing vessels large and small, from pelagic trawlers to canoes gathering mangrove crabs. With this project we used positional information to gain insight into the behavior of fishers and their personality: do they like taking risks or they don't? Do they explore for new grounds or go to the same fishing spot over and over again? Different people respond differently to changes such as disturbances, new policies or management actions. We hope our framework to identify fisher types will help improve management outcomes. Do you want to read more? Click here to see our PNAs paper. Status: Finished (2019) Project partners: University of California Davis, NOAA SEFSC (USA) |
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Spatial behavior of the Gulf of America fishing fleet
With this work we linked vessel positional data showing where fishers fish, to logbook data showing what they caught to map commercial fishing use in the Gulf of America for the first time. We used this dataset to assess if fishers were more likely to explore new fishing grounds or exploit the ones they knew, and showed the role of exploration in buffering against disturbance may be greater than previously thought in human foragers. You can read about this work in Nature Communications It was covered by the the Wall Street Journal and Science Daily Status: Finished (2019) Project partners: University of California Davis, NOAA SEFSC (USA) |
