Preliminary study of the sea surface temperature (SST) at fishing ground locations based on the net deployment of traditional purse-seine boats in the northern waters of Aceh - A community-based data collection approach

Reconstruction projects after the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004 were typically contracted out to implementing partners or government agencies. One of the few projects directly implemented by the Body of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (BRR) was funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help reestablish fisheries. During the course of the project, 151 GPS-enabled depth sounders with data-logging devices were installed on various types of artisanal fishing boats engaged in the different types of fishing strategies in Aceh such as purse-seine, drop-line, long-line, and gill net fishing. These devices were configured to automatically record time, position, speed, water depth, and sea surface temperature (SST) every time the boat moved 30 m. This study examines the relationship between the sea surface temperature (SST) and the net deployment (ND) of traditional purse seine fishers. The data consists of 922 data sets (6,170,648 data points) collected from 45 purse seine boats between June 2007 and May 2009. Among the data, 1,619 data points indicated the total number of ND; the nets were deployed only when schools of fish were actually sighted. The results indicate that the most frequent SST for ND is 28-28.5°C±0.1365°C with a mean standard error of 0.0117% in a 95% confidence interval. This study has demonstrated that the data gathered from the fishermen (community-based approach) has near-real-time character and, consequently, is an important source for the monitoring and managing of the local fish stocks.