With octopus, squid, and cuttlefish catches soaring but misidentification and inaccurate reporting raising overfishing fears, our international, multidisciplinary team is stepping in. Led by Tohoku University’s own Cheryl Ames (Co-Principal Investigator and Smithsonian Research Collaborator) and Demian Willette from Loyola Marymount University, our 15-member team spans 7 countries and diverse fields, including fisheries management, marine biology, and AI. Associate Professor Alyne Delaney (Tohoku University) is also on board!
Funded by the National Science Foundation, we’re building an application to track and identify octopus from ocean to table. This project uniquely combines traditional methods with cutting-edge tech: genomics, molecular metabarcoding, eDNA, and AI. Fishers in Mexico, California, and Alaska will be key citizen scientists, using eDNA kits to help us map octopus distribution and seasonality.
“Reliable knowledge will point us to where edible octopuses are found, and policymakers can use this information to make octopus fishing sustainable,” says Ames. We’re confident this network will pave the way for ecosystem-based fisheries and contribute to a thriving blue economy.
