Advances in Conservation Oceanography: New Tagging and Tracking Technologies and Their Potential for Transforming the Science Underlying Fisheries Management

Overexploitation of living resources and climate change are among the most obvious global-scale impacts of human society on marine ecosystems. In an age of such large-scale anthropogenic impacts, marine scientists, resource managers, and policymakers must rethink their approaches to protecting and managing marine populations and ecosystems. Conservation oceanography is an emerging field of science that incorporates the latest advances in ocean science and technology to provide resource managers and policymakers with the information they need to ensure the sustainability of the marine environment and its living resources. Here, we discuss the historical context of conservation oceanography as it applies to marine fisheries management. We then describe two projects, one focused on Atlantic bluefin tuna and the other on Pacific salmon, that illustrate the potential of new tagging and tracking technologies for transforming the science underlying fisheries management.