Relationship between sea surface temperatures and dolphin-associated fishing activities by the Mexican tuna fleet

Abstract

Data from the Mexican purse seiner fleet operating in the eastern Tropical Pacific, for the year 1985-1990, are used to show that the fraction of surface schools of yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares associated with dolphins (Stenella attenuata and others) increases with sea surface temperature. Possible reasons for this correlation are briefly discussed.