M. Vignaux et al., FINE-SCALE MAPPING OF FISH DISTRIBUTION FROM COMMERCIAL CATCH AND EFFORT DATA USING MAXIMUM-ENTROPY TOMOGRAPHY, Canadian journal of fisheries and aquatic sciences, 55(5), 1998, pp. 1220-1227
We present a technique for mapping the spatial distribution of fish us
ing commercial catch and effort data. The relative fish density can be
estimated at scales smaller than the length of the unit of effort, su
ch as a tow, by using a Bayesian maximum entropy method. This can take
advantage of the fact that the tows cross to give information about t
he density in those areas. This is a novel application of a well-teste
d technique that has been used in other fields such as astronomical im
aging. Its utility and robustness is demonstrated both on simulated da
ta and on real data from the trawl fishery on spawning hoki off the we
st coast of the South Island of New Zealand.