Review of potential line-transect methodologies for estimating abundance of dolphin stocks in the eastern tropical Pacific
Abstract
A twelve-year hiatus in fishery-independent marine mammal surveys in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean (ETP), combined with a mandate to monitor dolphin stock status under international agreements and the need for reliable stock status information to set dolphin bycatch limits in the tuna purse-seine fishery, has renewed debate about how best to assess and monitor ETP dolphin stock status. The high cost of replicating previous ship-based surveys has intensified this debate. In this review, transect methods for estimating animal abundance from dedicated research surveys are considered, with a focus on both contemporary and potential methods suitable for surveying large areas for dolphin species that can form large, multi-species aggregations. Covered in this review are potential improvements to the previous ship-based survey methodology, other ship-based methods, alternative approaches based on high-resolution imagery and passive acoustics, and combinations of ship-based and alternative approaches. It is concluded that for immediate management needs, ship-based surveys, with some suggested modifications to improve precision, are the only reliable option despite their high cost. However, it is recommended that a top research priority should be development of composite methods. Pilot studies on the use of high-resolution imagery and passive acoustics for development of indices of relative abundance to be used in composite methods should be part of any future ship-based survey efforts.
Citation
Lennert-Cody , C E , Buckland , S T , Gerrodette , T , Webb , A , Barlow , J , Fretwell , P T , Maunder , M N , Kitakado , T , Moore , J E , Scott , M D & Skaug , H J 2019 , ' Review of potential line-transect methodologies for estimating abundance of dolphin stocks in the eastern tropical Pacific ' , Journal of Cetacean Research and Management , vol. 19 , pp. 9-21 . < https://archive.iwc.int/?r=7931 >
Publication
Journal of Cetacean Research and Management
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1561-0713Type
Journal item
Rights
Copyright 2018 the Author(s). This work has been made available online in accordance with the publisher's policies. This is the final published version of the work, which was originally published at https://archive.iwc.int/?r=7931
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