Improving the Collection, Management, and Use of Marine Fisheries Data (2000) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Findings and Recommendations
Findings and Recommendations
Pages 131-165
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From page 131... ...
, which seems to be a good model for regional data management systems because of its emphasis on data standardization and full information access by the program partners, including federal and state agencies, and participation by interstate commissions, commercial and recreational fishermen, and environmental advocates. At the direction of Congress, NMFS developed a plan for a nationwide Fisheries Information System, an umbrella data management system that will incorporate existing and planned regional systems and help them coordinate data standardization and access.
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From page 132... ...
for stock assessments can be ascribed to both NMFS and the industry, and both need to make good-faith efforts to work together to improve data availability, thereby fostering improvements in management and sustained fisheries yields.
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From page 133... ...
Data collection could be made more costeffective through changes in the allocation of survey effort, collection of commercial and recreational catch and effort statistics, and optimization of regional monitoring through observer programs and vessel monitoring systems. NOAA recognized the need for such a costbenefit approach in its 1998 Fisheries Data Acquisition Plan: Because fiscal resources for fisheries management are not unlimited, a hierarchical system of priorities must be set to ensure that the most important data needs are met.
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From page 134... ...
should be considered by the regional fishery management councils. This review should be updated every 5 to 10 years to account for changes in the value of the fisheries, the development of more cost-effective techniques for data collection and management, and improved understanding of specific fisheries.
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From page 135... ...
The committee believes that it would be more cost-effective to find ways to improve the collection and use of data from commercial and recreational fisheries in stock assessments than for the
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From page 136... ...
For example, trip limits established in the summer flounder fishery changed the areas targeted by commercial fishermen. Recommendations: Assessments should take into account the effect of regulations on how fishermen conduct their operations and how this could change the composition of fish caught and data available for stock assessments and other purposes.
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From page 137... ...
In the case of the summer flounder, this type of change was made, but user groups, particularly fishermen, did not seem to know the extent of the survey expansion and the results of the changes, both in terms of raw data and assessment results. In relative abundance plots, the symbols denoting abundance at each survey station should identify the location of survey stations where there was zero catch.
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From page 138... ...
The range of a stock can be monitored through the spatial distribution of abundance indices in the surveys and the locations of commercial or recreational catches. Using fishery activity to detect changes in a species range may not be effective, however, if management is changed in such a way that fishing time or place are restricted (e.g., trip limits for summer flounder reduce fishing activities far from port)
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From page 139... ...
Stock assessment scientists, fishery managers, and fishery ecologists should work together in setting objectives for collecting data related to essential fish habitat, and in establishing a means of managing and accessing these data. This latter goal should be developed in parallel with ongoing efforts that focus on more traditional data management.
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From page 140... ...
In some cases, commercial fishermen have been able to demonstrate that survey gear has not been used correctly, preventing the determination of even relative abundance, for example, in a West Coast fishery (Lauth et al., 1998~. Fishery-independent surveys for summer flounder and other groundfish in the Northeast region use 30-minute tows to increase the tows per station and increase precision, whereas commercial fishermen often tow their trawl nets for 3 hours or longer.
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From page 141... ...
Although acoustic methods don't work for flatfish, they may be useful for other species. Survey Vessels Findings: Fishery-independent surveys using calibrated vessels owned by NOAA provide vital 141 and irreplaceable data for stock assessments and ecological monitoring and other fishery assessment purposes.
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From page 142... ...
Nevertheless, the national system could fail to meet national needs if each region adopts different data standards. Recommendations: As part of the Fisheries Information System, NMFS should work with regions to develop and publish a standardized data collection protocol and required data elements for commercial fisheries data (e.g., logbooks, observers, VMS)
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From page 143... ...
Congress and NMFS should consider incentives to encourage commercial fishermen to invest in technologies that will provide data to make fisheries management more timely and effective. Collectively, studies related to co-management, cooperative relationships between industry and scientists, and incentives for misreporting catch data indicate that early and active incorporation of fishermen's viewpoints into research and regulatory processes could improve fisheries management.
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From page 144... ...
NMFS should consider increasing observer coverage to at least 25 percent for commercial summer flounder trips over several years to obtain a better estimate of bycatch cliscarcis ant} misreporting in the summer flounder fishery. Some information can be obtained only by at-sea observer programs, but at-sea observers are extremely expensive.
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From page 145... ...
Logbook Data Findings: Logbooks compiled by fishermen and fish dealers can be effective and cost-effective sources of data concerning abundance and other characteristics of fish stocks and fisheries. But, if fishermen and fish dealers do not believe that stock assessments and fisheries management are responsive to their needs or concerned with their survival, they will not willingly submit accurate and complete logbook data.
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From page 146... ...
Landing ticket data are compared with logbook data before logbook data are used for stock assessments. To make efficient use of electronic logbooks to speed the availability of logbook data for stock assessments, it will be necessary to take the next step, getting landing ticket data into electronic format as quickly as possible.
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From page 147... ...
NMFS and councils should consider the usefulness of position data for all managed fisheries, whether for monitoring and enforcing management based on closed areas, providing spatial data to improve understanding of changes in distribution and abundance of fish stocks, or for other purposes. NMFS should ensure that VMS data are linked to other data sources and are made available to stock assessment experts (see also recommendations on data confidentiality)
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From page 148... ...
MRFSS has a systematic plan for addressing known sampling problems, but seems to lack the personnel and financial resources to make rapid progress in updating its procedures. Recommendations: In the short term, MRFSS should be extended to all coastal states with significant marine recreational fisheries that have requested inclusion.
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From page 149... ...
Another means to improve charter boat/party boat data would be to develop and use a complete list of vessels, require them to maintain logbooks to verify catch rates, and use the lists for telephone surveys of this fishing sector. In-Season Monitoring of Recreational Fisheries Catch Findings: MRFSS was designed to monitor recreational catch and effort each year to use in stock assessments run in subsequent years.
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Offsetting the cost of making MRFSS data more timely would be the benefit of reducing the likelihood that recreational fisheries (e.g., the summer flounder fishery) would overrun their portion of the overall TAC for a fishery.
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Recommendations: Congress should authorize and support NMFS in the routine collection of economic data for commercial and recreational fisheries. Congress must first make such data collection legal (see also NRC, l999b)
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. Clearly, fisheries management and fisheries science must both consider a wider range of factors than has previously been the case, when data collected for fisheries management tended to focus on individual species for the purpose of stock assessments.
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Direct incorporation of environmental data in stock assessments is limited, but many analysts now recognize the importance of environmental effects and environmental forecasting. However, many stock assessment models and management control rules still assume that recruitment is proportional to spawning stock biomass and that the major dynamics of populations are driven by fishing-induced mortality.
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From page 154... ...
It will be necessary to have environmental data on a scale and reference grid that is compatible with needs for fisheries management. (continued research on the effects of the environment on fish population size, individual growth, survivorship, and spawning potential in conjunction with density-dependent effects is crucial for determining the kinds of data collection and stock assessments that should be used for any given species.
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From page 155... ...
Recommendations: NFMS should increase its dialogue with recreational fishermen to jointly develop and implement improved data collection for recreational fisheries, through MRFSS, specially designed and coordinated tagging studies, and alternatives to MRFSS that allow in-season adjustments to recreational quotas. MRFSS should continue to evaluate whether saltwater fishing licenses and longitudinal sampling would provide cost-effective alternatives to randomdigit dialing, keeping in mind that merely using license frames may not make MRFSS more timely or cost-efficient if different states use vastly different licensing programs.
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From page 156... ...
have different needs and concerns about fish stocks and marine ecosystems. The primary focus of most existing data collection and management activities is on collecting sufficient data to conduct an accurate and precise scientific assessment of biomass relative to previous years.
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Another means to achieve this goal would be increased use of commercial data and better recreational data that could be available by following recommendations given earlier in this chapter. 157 Institutional Arrangements Findings: Several different paths have been taken in different regions of the United States to manage fisheries data.
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From page 158... ...
Recommendations: NMFS should follow standards set by the Federal Geographic Data Committee, so that its data are compatible with data from other agencies. This is of more than bureaucratic interest because several agencies collect data that could be useful to fisheries management if NMFS data and data from other agencies were in compatible formats.
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From page 159... ...
In the case of summer flounder, commercial fishermen believe that NMFS surveys do not cover the full range of the species, information from commercial logbooks is ignored, sportfishing information is lacking in timeliness and quality, and changes are made in management actions before the consequences of previous actions are fully realized. The Food and Agriculture Organization's report Precautionary Approach to Fisheries recommended that stock assessment processes should include "a process for assessment analysis that is transparent...." (FAO, 1995, p.
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From page 160... ...
The Open GIS Consortium is well advanced in developing Web-based access to geospatial data and provides a ready standard for government data systems. Recommendations: NMFS should develop and publicize (including on their Web site)
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For some states, NMFS is not allowed full access to all state data; for example, Alaska restricts access to confidential data, except to selected NMFS personnel for stock assessment and law enforcement purposes. Two recommendations of NMFS (undated)
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From page 162... ...
In many cases, disagreement of fishermen with the results of stock assessments can be traced to NMFS not explaining the sources of variability in the data and the uncertainty of the models being used. In the current fisheries management system, several activities occur sequentially: · Data are collected.
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From page 163... ...
One innovative and useful approach is to conduct fishery assessment and management simulations with real fisheries data in a workshop setting to explore with commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, environmental advocates, and others how assessments are developed and how management decisions are based on assessments. This approach has been used by several fishery scientists to provide opportunities to focus attention of stakeholders on the models and data, rather than on each other (Holling, 1978; Walters, 1986, 1994~.
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From page 164... ...
It is important that a case be made for why significant uncertainty should compel managers to be cautious, rather than giving a signal to stakeholders that stock assessment scientists do not know the condition of the stock and thus become an excuse for inaction or for selection of TAC levels that are too high. Presentations should include information about the risk involved in different TAC levels that could be set.
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From page 165... ...
NMFS should fund both internal and external research (biological, economic, and social) relating to: · developing methods for evaluating ecological benefits of fish stocks and fisheries; · developing new methods for stock assessmeet; · minimizing data fouling and misreporting; · testing adaptive sampling for surveys, including both NMFS and industry data collection; · testing electronic logbooks and VMSs that offer value-added features to fishermen; · linking environmental, economic, and social data, and climate forecasts to stock assessments; · studying the feeding habits and the distribution and types of prey and predators of important non-commercial species, to understand the functioning of the marine ecosystems affected by fishing activities; · understanding the economic and social motivations of harvesters so that greater use can be made of fishery-dependent data; · improving design of recreational fishing surveys; and · conducting stock assessments combining recreational and commercial data with very different error and uncertainty structures.
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