Newsletter July 2007

Peru has the world’s largest, single-species fishery, the country’s 809-vessel anchovy fishing fleet. To make sure industrial-scale fishing only occurs past 5 nautical miles of the coastline, each boat is required to have a satellite geo-positioning transmitter. Peruvian scientists used the data from the transmitters to analyze the movement patterns of the fishermen in their quest to find fish concentrations. They found that their hunting and movement strategies were very similar to those of natural predators, such as albatross or seals. Despite having advanced detection and communication technology, the fisherman did not adopt better search strategies.

Anchovy.

School of anchovies.

Researchers said the findings could change the general perception of human activity in marine ecosystems. The geo-positioning analysis was described in the Journal of Marine Science and is being developed for application to European fisheries.

Source: Science.monstersandcritics.com

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• Newsletter December 2007
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