Toulouse company launches 'real-time dolphin activity map' to prevent dolphins from being caught by mistake

Toulouse-based CLS recently launched a solution to protect dolphins from accidental capture in the Bay of Biscay in the North Atlantic Ocean by creating a real-time predictive map that shows areas that boats should avoid. In recent years, thousands of cetaceans, including dolphins, have been stranded on Atlantic beaches.

This new device is a real-time predictive mapping system that can provide areas that vessels need to avoid in order to protect local dolphins from bycatch. Developed and designed by Toulouse-based CLS, a company specializing in satellite fisheries and with a focus on sustainability, the system can be used to avoid vessels fishing in locations where dolphins are likely to be found, based on a real-time determination of where they are likely to be.

We first need to identify the dolphins' favorite habitats," explains CLS director Christophe Vassal. "There are places where dolphins like to hunt, such as waters with microscopic holes in the rocks, where there are small animals ranging from 2 cm to 20 cm, such as small sardines and anchovies. For example, small sardines and anchovies, but they are also prey for albacore tuna. So, we often find tuna and dolphins in the same place."

For several years, thousands of cetaceans have been stranded on Atlantic Ocean beaches each year, and many more have died at sea. Most of the cetaceans accidentally caught by fishermen are released by them. in January 2021, more than 400 stranded dolphins were found on the beaches of the French Atlantic Ocean.

CLS has developed a system that simulates the areas where dolphins like to hang out and predicts their location in time and space with about 10 days of data to avoid fishing boats in these areas.

The Toulouse-based company has already developed a similar system in Pacific waters. At the request of the U.S. government, CLS developed a predictive software to avoid the accidental capture of protected animals, red sea turtles, while fishing for swordfish in Hawaiian waters. Since 2018, the system has been used to balance fishermen's activities and protect sea turtles from harvesting.

A model of the dolphin protection system has now been designed and will next be field tested in the Bay of Biscay. This device will complement the existing dolphin protection measures. Twenty vessels will be equipped with cameras to better understand how dolphins are caught in certain areas by the nets. As the current measures to protect dolphins are not perfect, the dolphin species protection situation is serious, France Nature Environnement (France Nature Environnement) has submitted the dolphin protection needs to the French Supreme Administrative Court, hoping that the state to introduce relevant programs to protect endangered animals.