Cooperative Research in the National Marine Fisheries Service (2004) / Chapter Skim
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3. Examples of Cooperative Research in Other Countries
3. Examples of Cooperative Research in Other Countries
Pages 29-50
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From page 29... ...
and the fishing industry of the east coast of Canada is in the form of cooperative surveys, mainly as sentinel surveys or sentinel fisheries, which are limited commercial fisheries designed to maintain a continuous record of fishery-dependent data during an otherwise closed period. The primary impetus for development of cooperative research on the east coast of Canada was the closure of most of the major cod (Gad(?
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From page 30... ...
From 1995 to the present, the Canadian government has invested between 6 million and 7 million dollars annually for a total of about 27 distinct sentinel surveys on the east coast of Canada from Newfoundland and Labrador to Nova Scotia. These surveys involve some 19 fishing industry organizations in all five eastern Canadian provinces and represent approximately 30 percent of the budget that the DFO allocates to the stock assessment process.
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From page 31... ...
As an example, the participants in the Scotian Shelf and Southern Grand Banks Halibut survey, which was established to provide a number of indices of stock abundance and condition, soon realized that the observers onboard their vessels and the scientific partners provided a good opportunity for them to address a long-standing problem of live to processed weight conversions. The primary issue was that the fisherman considered the conversion ratios used by fisheries managers to estimate live weight (catches)
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From page 32... ...
There are also a number of cooperative surveys and research initiatives that do not rely as heavily on government funding. GRAND BANKS SCOTIAN SHELF ATLANTIC HALIBUT LONGLINE SURVEY Unlike most other commercially exploited demersal fish, Atlantic halibut are not a schooling species, making it difficult to derive fishery-independent estimates of population abundance from standard groundfish otter trawl surveys.
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From page 33... ...
a check of fishing violations history; and (4) a requirement to sign a contract stating a willingness to adhere to survey protocols, including carrying onboard observers for help with data collection and data verification.
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From page 34... ...
General Design To satisfy both the desires of the fishermen participants to contribute their knowledge and experience in determining halibut abundance and the necessities of statistical rigor, the halibut longline survey was designed as two phases. The first is a fixed station phase using historical catch rates as the stratifying variable, and the second is a commercial index fishery.
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From page 35... ...
This requirement was to ensure that an independent observer could verify information collected by the survey and that the requisite biological information would be collected for all survey activities. The requirement for observer coverage was reduced in subsequent years such that at present all fixed station survey activities are observed, but only a smaller percentage of commercial index sets are observed.
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From page 36... ...
Commitment beyond this initial period is essential in that there exists no viable alternative fishery-independent method of monitoring the halibut resource. Trawl surveys are ineffective at estimating halibut abundance and it is unlikely that the government will develop an extensive longline survey, even if it were financially viable (estimated cost is between $750,000 and $1 million)
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From page 37... ...
The objectives of the society are to promote communication among fishermen, scientists, and the general public and to establish and maintain a network of fishermen and scientists capable of conducting cooperative research and collecting information relevant and necessary to the long-term sustainability of marine fisheries. The society was formed out of the recognition by both fishermen and scientists that each had valuable contributions to make to the long-term stewardship of living marine resources.
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From page 38... ...
ancl are: · To establish ancl maintain a network of fishing industry personnel to collect information, for use by members of the FSRS, relevant to the long-term sustainability of the marine fishing industry in the Atlantic region. · To facilitate ancl promote effective communication among fishermen, scientists, ancl the general public.
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From page 39... ...
The society manages a comprehensive annual survey of fishes on the eastern Scotian shelf and is involved in a wide range of research projects in collaboration with the DFO, nongovernmental organizations, and universities in the region. Projects include collection of detailed information on fishing practices, catch rates, species composition of catches, fish condition factors, and information on fish diets essential to understanding their roles in marine ecosystems as a whole.
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From page 40... ...
The most important attribute of the society is that it provides a nonconfrontational forum in which fishermen, scientists, and other professionals can discuss and debate issues of common interest. Over time it has evolved into an organization that responds to the input of all members by facilitating goal-oriented research of interest to both parties and prerequisite to developing a long-term sustainable fishing industry on the east coast of Canada.
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From page 41... ...
The major business activities include: (1) administration ofthe annual longline survey ofthe eastern Scotian shelf, including vessel selection, ensuring compliance with survey protocols, payment to participants, and involvement in data analysis; (2)
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From page 42... ...
The process has now become a more formal feasibility study to set up the west coast chapter of the FSRS. It would appear that the society's objects and structure are therefore not dependent on the conditions and culture of eastern Canada and thus might be a model that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
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From page 43... ...
The CSA-DFO level of cooperation is much more intensive than any that have evolved so far within the United States. BRITISH COLUMBIA GROUNDFISH TRAWL FISHERY The British Columbia groundfish trawl fishery is an ITQ fishery with approximately 120 active vessels.
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From page 44... ...
under the 1983 and 1996 fisheries acts to maintain fish stocks at or above the maximum sustainable yield level and requirements under these acts and other acts that cover protected marine mammal and seabird species and also contain substantial ecosystem sustainability requirements; and (3) the recovery of all directly attributable costs from the commercial fishing industry; including all research, management, administrative, and enforcement costs.
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From page 45... ...
wins about 95 percent of the contracts. There is an annual cycle that defines the New Zealand fisheries research process.
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From page 46... ...
The involvement of the New Zealand fishing industry in the fisheries research process is large and complex, and the fishing industry contributes to the research process at every level. As noted above, the fishing industry has employed scientists to participate at the fishery assessment working group level since the late 1980s.
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From page 47... ...
These surveys have been conducted by other research institutions from Australia and South Africa using commercial fishing vessels as research platforms. In addition, the orange roughy industry component is developing methods that make use of active fishing vessels to undertake acoustic surveys as part of their fishing operations.
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From page 48... ...
Similarly, the bycatch of protected seabirds has led to a number of industry-sponsored research projects, including a project to develop an experimental design for seabird population studies and other projects to test the effectiveness of mitigation devices like tori lines and bait-delivering schemes. The New Zealand fishing industry has demonstrated a strong commitment to cooperative fisheries research in support of the fishery resource on which they depend.
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From page 49... ...
In much of eastern Canada the individual quotas are not guaranteed and the fisheries are generally overcapitalized. On the east coast of Canada, cooperative research mainly takes the form of abundance surveys, some funded by the government and others funded by fishermen having property rights to the fish they harvest.
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From page 50... ...
The fact that countries with quota share-based management and cost recovery conduct significant cooperative research suggests that there are economic imperatives due to lower costs, higher quantity and quality of research and management outputs, and/or enhanced value of resource rents and marketable quotas. The western Canadian examples are perhaps the most surprising, where these two industry groups have devoted substantial research programs at their own expense without a legal mandate to pay for the research costs.
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