Tracking the Geographical Origins of the Bycatch of Marine Mammals Stranded in the Southern Gulf of Mexico: Spatial and Temporal Patterns

Bycatch currently constitutes a significant threat to marine mammals, and its assessment poses a substantial challenge to the sustainability of various fishing communities worldwide. Bycatch from small-scale fishing is comparatively higher in developing countries, where fisheries management data are lacking. Recent U.S. regulations aimed at reducing global bycatch largely speak to these concerns as well. For example, the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act regulations require nations that export fishery products to the U.S. market to have comparable regulations. Here, a cost-effective methodology to define bycatch conflict zones was developed based on 11 years of stranding data and producing a Lagrangian numerical model. Python-based classification algorithms determined distances between fishing ports and bycatch regions, revealing disparities across the western, central, and eastern areas through the implementation of the artificial intelligence library Scikit-learn. The areas with the highest marine mammal bycatch identified in this study are consistent with those reported in previous studies based on interviews regarding sea turtle bycatch. This study is the first of its kind in the region, highlighting the novelty of our research initiative.