This project will use global seasonal forecasts to operationalize dynamic ocean management tools and develop strategic management scenarios to enhance the resilience of protected species in the…

This project will use global seasonal forecasts to operationalize dynamic ocean management tools and develop strategic management scenarios to enhance the resilience of protected species in the california current large marine ecosystem (CCLME) in response to short-term and long-term climate variability and change. There are two tools on the U.S. West coast that are already being used to directly inform management: 1) the habitat compression index (HCI) for whale entanglement issues in the dungeness crab fishery and 2) the temperature observations to avoid loggerhead (TOTAL) tool for loggerhead turtle entanglement issues in highly migratory species occurring off southern california. Under this task, we will develop operational forecasts for HCI and TOTAL tools using output from the north american multi-model ensemble (NMME). The use of NMME for real-time forecasts of extreme conditions has been demonstrated for marine heatwaves and a similar approach will be applied here. Forecasts will be hosted via erddap (https://coastwatch.pfeg.NOAA.GOV/erddap/index.html ) in collaboration with coastwatch, and updated on the TOTAL website and california current integrated ecosystem assessment (CCIEA) entanglement pages.