A Review of the Accomplishments and Plans of the NOAA Coastal Ocean Program (1994) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Coastal Fisheries Ecosystems
2 Coastal Fisheries Ecosystems
Pages 17-38
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 17... ...
The decline of U.S. fisheries, the lack of understanding of mechanisms that control and regulate fish stocks, and a need for a predictive capability to forecast future trends in abundance led to the development of the Coastal Fisheries Ecosystems (CFE)
|
From page 18... ...
, in some cases making original goals of CFE programs unrealistic. Reductions in sampling efforts and other ad justments to proposed research were made by CFE program managers to accommodate budget shortfalls.
|
From page 19... ...
The present review included site visits and in-depth examinations of the Bering Sea FOCI and SABRE programs. These two programs had been funded for 3 years at the time of the review.
|
From page 20... ...
Both Bering Sea FOCI and SABRE emphasize the complex interactions between biology and physics that act on early life stages and which can lead to recruitment variability. The Georges Bank program emphasizes species interactions within the fish community and compensatory relationships that may regulate population and community structure.
|
From page 21... ...
At the time of this review, Bering Sea FOCI and SABRE had completed three years of their projected 5-year durations while the Georges Bank program had completed its first year. The successful planning and implementation of the CFE theme represents a significant achievement.
|
From page 22... ...
Development and application of regional models and new methods by CFE programs to sample the ocean will provide new tools for fishery scientists and managers. The panel saw evidence of technology transfer among CFE programs, for example the sharing of models and optical sampling techniques between SABRE and Bering Sea FOCI.
|
From page 23... ...
A Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) , which consists of 29 NOAA and academic scientists, was formed to provide advice and guidance to the PMC on concepts, proposals, research plans, and other technical aspects of CFE programs or program planning (COP, ~ 993a; NOAA, ~ 993c)
|
From page 24... ...
Responsiveness to Past Reviews There was little formal review of the overall CFE theme or its programs prior to this effort. An earlier review by PoCO endorsed the selection of SABRE and Bering Sea FOCI (NRC, 19911.
|
From page 25... ...
Program TAGs are potentially valuable sources of advice and review. It is not clear that they have played a significant role yet in advising Bering Sea FOCI and the Georges Bank program because they were only recently formed, but the SABRE TAG has been well utilized as a valuable source of objective and critical advice.
|
From page 26... ...
5. Fisheries management goals should be fully considered in scientific studies throughout CFE programs, rather than insulating science from management until the science is completed.
|
From page 27... ...
These funds could be used to augment the budgets of individual CFE programs or to promote program interactions through workshops or working group meetings among program scientists.
|
From page 28... ...
The CFE theme is supportive of the current NOAA strategic plan and is a positive step toward understanding coastal fisheries ecosystems, a step that could assist managers in attaining sustainable fishery harvests. Individual Programs- Assessments and Recommendations Bering Sea FOCI Bering Sea FOCI had its origins in the "Sitka Conference" (Sitka Symposium, 1 988; COP, 1 991 b)
|
From page 29... ...
Rather than "increase the yield of the walleye pollock fishery in the Bering Sea," a better goal of the research program is to "increase understanding of production and recruitment processes, to ensure sustainable yields." The pane! endorses the two objectives of Bering Sea FOCI.
|
From page 30... ...
The Bering Sea FOCI Management Committee (their "Executive Council") consists of six scientists, representing PMEL, NMFS, and academic institutions.
|
From page 31... ...
Future research might examine recruitment processes of Bering Sea fishes, with respect to important variables in this complex environment. For example, effects of sea ice, which can affect circulation, productivity, and probably fish recruitment in the Bering Sea, is not considered in the present Bering Sea FOCI.
|
From page 32... ...
This "alternative approach," as stated, would allow SABRE investigators to concentrate on habitats and life stages that are critical to survival or the recruitment process. The approach incorporates measurements and models of coastal ocean circulation to elucidate transport mechanisms.
|
From page 33... ...
In this respect, SABRE and Bering Sea FOCI differ, because the latter program can draw on substantial NMFS resources already in place to study padlock, independent of CFE. Despite SABRE's shift toward estuarine studies of the juvenile stage, offshore investigations, including physical modeling, moorings, and ichthyoplankton surveys, will continue but are constrained by budget limitations.
|
From page 34... ...
The causes of recruitment success or failure probably will differ from year to year in their dependence upon either offshore processes that affect eggs and larvae versus inshore processes that affect estuarine · ~ Lumens es. Predation and Structure of the Georges Bank Ecosystem The Georges Bank program is the third and most recently funded of the CFE programs.
|
From page 35... ...
Scientists from the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center have formed partnerships with five university scientists in the program. Collaborative arrangements with other programs that include fishery oceanography components and have activities in the Georges Bank area (e.g., the NSF/NOAA Climate and Global Change Program, GLOBEC, the Canadian Ocean Production Enhancement Network (OPEN)
|
From page 36... ...
Research proposals were solicited from universities, research laboratories, and from the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center. Knowledge from the Georges Bank program can be applied to advise fisheries managers on best methods to achieve sustainable harvests to promote productive fish communities of high economic value.
|
From page 37... ...
Predation and the Structure of the Georges Bank Ecosystem. /mp/ementation P/an.
|
From page 38... ...
Overvie wanc/P/ans Fisheries-oceanographyCoorc/inatec//n vestigations. NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center and Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Seattle Washington, Nov.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.