Abstract
Abstract. The Indian Ocean Rim hosts many of the world's underdeveloped and emerging economies that depend on the ocean resources for the livelihoods of the populations of millions. Operational ocean information services cater to the requirements of managers and end-users to efficiently harness those resources and to ensure safety. Fishery information is not the only operational service that will be needed to empower such communities in the coming decades. Coral bleaching alerts, SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus)-assisting advisories, conservation or ecotourism assisting services (e.g. TurtleWatch or WhaleWatch), poaching and/or by-catch reduction support and jellyfish, micro-plastic and oil spill watching to name a few, but not an exhaustive list, of the services that are needed operationally. This paper outlines the existing tools and explores the ongoing research that has potential to convert the findings into operational services in near- to midterm.
Highlights
About one-third of the world population reside in the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries
As more people are uplifted from poverty, consumerism is poised to extend to larger parts of the population, which will create concerns for the health of the adjoining ocean ecosystems
This paper explores the regional needs and solutions based on presently available data and technologies
Summary
About one-third of the world population reside in the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries. A hyperspectral sensor scans oceans with a highresolution, of as much as 1 nm, wavelength for the entire visible spectrum that enables researchers to begin a new era in the OC sciences due to its potential for developing a plethora of applications This includes, but is not limited to, better resolving phytoplankton functional types, fishery resource management and ecosystem health monitoring. The operational services that can predict the movement and presence of these animals are required for conservation authorities, who can effectively design protected areas, do better marine spatial planning or monitor potential hot spots for poaching or IUU (illegal, unreported and unregulated) fishing These can support the ecotourism (e.g. WhaleWatch) as an alternate livelihood for the professional fishers, who face performing capture fishery as a less lucrative occupation. Bioacoustics is used for monitoring the marine animals’ movements by listening to the underwater sounds, often through passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), which would be one of the less intrusive ways of studying them (Browning et al, 2017)
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