Project Grant 80NSSC17K0290

THE GOAL OF THE TUNASCAPE PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A THREE-DIMENSIONAL ECOSYSTEM MODEL OF THE TUNA FISHERY OF THE EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC OCEAN (ETPO) THAT WILL DESCRIBE HOW OCEAN CIRCULATION FROM SUBMESOSCALE TO GLOBAL SCALES DRIVES THE SPATIAL-TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTION OF COMMERCIAL TUNA SPECIES (SKIPJACK YELLOWFIN AND BIGEYE). TO MEET THIS GOAL TUNASCAPE WILL ADDRESS A BROAD RANGE OF QUESTIONS: WHY DOES THE SHALLOW HYPOXIC LAYER THAT COVERS THOUSANDS OF SQUARE KILOMETERS OF THE ETPO APPEAR TO SHAPE THE DISTRIBUTION OF BOTH PRIMARY PRODUCTION AND THE CATCH OF THE COMMERCIAL SPECIES? IS THE SHALLOW HYPOXIC LAYER SIMPLY THE RESULT OF EQUATORIAL AND COASTAL UPWELLING OR IS IT ALSO STRONGLY INFLUENCED BY VERTICAL COMPRESSION OF THE PLANKTONIC AND PELAGIC COMMUNITIES? WHAT SCALE OF SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION IS REQUIRED TO RESOLVE VORTICITY STRUCTURES THAT LEAD TO THE AGGREGATION OF THE TUNA AND PRESUMABLY THEIR PREY? WILL THIS SCALE BE ACHIEVED WITH THE NEW OCEAN COLOR THERMAL AND ALTIMETRY SENSORS SOON TO BE LAUNCHED? THE TUNASCAPE MODEL WILL BE DRIVEN BY NASA S SATELLITE IMAGERY OF SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE COLOR HEIGHT AND WIND SPEED AS WELL AS OUTPUT FROM ITS ECCO 18 KM AND 2.3 KM GLOBAL CIRCULATION MODELS. THE MODEL WILL CONSIST OF THREE COMPONENTS: THE ECCO GLOBAL CIRCULATION MODEL; A PLANKTON MODEL THAT WILL BE A MODIFIED VERSION OF THE 18 KM DARWIN MODEL AND OF THE 2.3 KM BLING MODEL; AND AN AGENT-BASED POPULATION DYNAMICS MODEL OF THE THREE TUNA SPECIES. THE TUNA MODEL WHICH WAS RECENTLY COMPLETED AS PART NSF S FISHSCAPE PROJECT IS BASED UPON THE INTER-AMERICAN TROPICAL TUNA COMMISSION (IATTC) S 50-YEAR RECORD ON CATCH AND EFFORT. THE IATTC PURSE SEINE DATA PROVIDED TO US WAS MONTHLY SPECIES CATCH AT A SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF 1 DEGREE. FOR THE TUNASCAPE PROJECT WE HAVE BEEN OFFERED ACCESS TO DATA AT SUBMESOSCALE RESOLUTION (