SUMMARY OF SELECTED EARLY RESULTS FROM 

 THE ERTS-1 MENHADEN EXPERIMENT^ 



Andrew J. Kemmerer,^ Joseph A. Benigno,^ Gladys B. Reese,' and Frederick C. Minkler' 



ABSTRACT 



A 15-mo study was initiated in July 1972 to demonstrate the potential of using satellite-acquired 

 environmental data to provide fisheries information. Imagery from ERTS-1 (Earth Resources Tech- 

 nology Satellite) was used in conjunction with aerial photographically sensed menhaden distribution 

 information, sea-truth oceanographic measurements, and commercial fishing information from a 

 8,670-km^ study area in the north central portion of the Gulf of Mexico. Objectives were to demon- 

 strate relationships between selected oceanographic parameters and menhaden distribution, ERTS-1 

 imagery and menhaden distribution, and ERTS-1 imagery and oceanographic parameters. ERTS-1, 

 MSS Band 5 imagery density levels correlated with photographically-detected menhaden distribution 

 patterns and could be explained based on sea-truth secchi disc transparency and water-depth mea- 

 surements. These two parameters, together with surface salinity, Forel-Ule color, and chlorophyll a, 

 also were found to correlate significantly with menhaden distribution. Eight empirical models were 

 developed which provided menhaden distribution predictions for the study area based on combinations 

 of secchi disc transparency, water depth, surface salinity, and Forel-Ule color measurements. 



A need of managers and users alike of living 

 marine resources is timely synoptic information 

 about the distribution and abundance of the re- 

 sources. For users, this need is particularly criti- 

 cal in that daily decisions must be made about 

 where to deploy fishing vessels and less frequent 

 decisions about investment strategies for men and 

 equipment. The increasing pressures placed on 

 living marine resources by domestic and foreign 

 fishing fleets interacting with environmental 

 changes demand that resource managers also be 

 kept fully aware of the current status of the 

 stocks to prevent possible catastrophic fluc- 

 tuations in specific fish populations. Unfortu- 

 nately, the tools required to satisfy this need 

 economically are lacking, forcing users to base 

 decisions on inituition and often biased personal 

 knowledge and resource managers to formulate 

 recommendations based on historical rather than 

 current information. In response to this need, a 

 number of relatively new technologies are being 

 examined by the National Marine Fisheries 



'Contribution No. 246, Southeast Fisheries Center, Pascagoula 

 Laboratory, National Marine Fisheries Service. 



^Formerly Southeast Fisheries Center, Pascagoula Labo- 

 ratory, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Pascagoula, 

 MS 39567; present address: Office of Resource Research, Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Washington, DC 20235. 



^Southeast Fisheries Center, Pascagoula Laboratory, Na- 

 tional Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Pascagoula, MS 39567. 



Service and, in particular, the technologies asso- 

 ciated with aerial and satellite remote sensing, 

 to determine if they can be used to provide perti- 

 nent fisheries resource information. 



A 15-mo study was initiated in July 1972 to 

 demonstrate the potential of using satellite- 

 acquired information to predict the distribution 

 and abundance of a fishery resource. The study 

 represented a combined Federal Government and 

 private industry effort and stressed acquisition 

 of data to: 



1. determine the reliability of satellite and 

 high-altitude aircraft-supported sensors to 

 provide information about selected oceano- 

 graphic parameters in coastal waters; 



2. demonstrate the feasibility of using 

 remotely-sensed oceanographic information 

 to predict the distribution and abundance of 

 a selected species; 



3. demonstrate the potential of using 

 satellite-acquired information for improv- 

 ing the harvest and management of a fishery 

 resource and; 



4. identify necessary sensor techniques or de- 

 velopments to satisfy selected needs of re- 

 source users and managers. 



This paper presents a summary of selected 

 results from the experiment. Earlier publications 

 dealing with- the experiment have stressed its 

 management (Stevenson, Atwell, and Maughan, 



Manuscript acceped September 1973. 

 FISHERY BULLETIN: VOL. 72, NO. 2, 1974 



375 



