Toward dynamic marine spatial planning tools: Can we inform fisheries stock assessments by using dynamic habitat models informed by the integrated ocean observing system (IOOS)?

Since marine organisms are tightly coupled to the properties of the turbulent ocean fluid, the locations of critical habitat can change rapidly in time and space. Historically it has been difficult to measure these dynamic properties, but advances in ocean observing technologies allow us to measure many aspects of habitat (e.g. surface temperature, currents) and model others (e.g. bottom temperature, phytoplankton, zooplankton) over large spatial scales with fine temporal resolution. We observed a strong relationship between bottom temperature and butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus) distribution on the Mid Atlantic Bight continental shelf and used modeled temperature from 1958–2007 to observe changes in the spread of predicted habitat. Predicted habitat maps showed high seasonal and high interannual variability. This model was incorporated into the 2013 Butterfish stock assessment. In addition, observing platforms like gliders have become resources to expanding tracking studies that can now target pelagic habitats of the target species. We see these approaches as a step toward ecosystem based solutions that actually account for the measured dynamics of the system.