Navigating the future: Advancing fisheries predictions with a front-to-fish approach

Oceans, vast reservoirs of abundant fish and marine life, exhibit varying exploitation and utilisation potential across space and time. A comprehensive understanding of the complex interaction between the environment, biology, and fish movements is crucial for accurately predicting fishing grounds, a key prerequisite for sustainable fisheries. The application of remote sensing technology has significantly enhanced the predictive capabilities on fisheries. It can portray environmental variables linked to productivity across the ocean, effectively identifying potential fishing grounds. Fishing grounds around the world are often found along current boundaries, upwelling zones, eddies, continental shelves, and reef banks. Oceanic fronts typically mark these boundaries or areas of upwelling and eddies, where favourable conditions for food webs are established due to the high nutrient levels, increased primary productivity, and abundance of prey organisms. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) offers fisheries advisories such as Potential Fishing Zones (PFZs), aiding fishers in locating areas with fish abundance, thereby saving fuel and time. INCOIS is progressing towards upgrading its services through habitat suitability studies and ecosystem modelling. The approach involves tracking oceanic front persistence and studying productivity scaling over time, utilizing environmental data from remote sensing, field observations, and food web studies. Anticipated outcomes include a deeper understanding of ocean biochemical phenomena in fronts, leading to improved predictions of fishing grounds, species, and fish catch. These advancements aim to contribute to sustainable fisheries management and promote more economical and fuel-efficient fishing.