Learning From the Study Fleet: Maintenance of a Large-Scale Reference Fleet for Northeast U.S. Fisheries

Abstract

Logbook data from commercial fisheries are a vital component in the machinery of management, including tracking the volume of catches and allocating catch spatially. At the same time, logbooks can provide a unique window into the ecological and sociological conditions in marine fisheries, where fishermen interact with marine species and environments frequently and broadly. Traditional logbooks, however, often are not sufficiently standardized (when personal logs), or lack the detail (when regulatory documents) required to adequately understand fisheries ecosystems. The Study Fleet program, operated by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Cooperative Research Branch, was developed to address these shortfalls by engaging members of the fishing industry in collecting high-resolution catch, effort, and environmental data using electronic logbooks. Since its inception, the Study Fleet has expanded from a small project focused on collecting detailed catch information from the New England multispecies groundfish fishery to a program with a wider scope encompassing a variety of fisheries, gears, and environmental parameters from North Carolina to Maine U.S. Over the years, a number of lessons have been learned about recruiting and supporting industry partners, managing the data, evolving technical specifications, and the challenges associated with analyzing and applying self-reported fisheries data. Here we describe the current state of the program and provide summaries of the Study Fleet program operations and outcomes from 2007-2020, with an eye towards successes, challenges, and applicability of the approach in other regions. We suggest other reference fleet programs, as well as other developing fishery dependent data collections (e.g., electronic monitoring programs), develop detailed roadmaps for each data collection to keep participants engaged as collaborators, target specific fisheries to keep resources from being stretched too thin, and partner with data users early. Additionally, we suggest programs invest in the long-term participation of individual fishermen, carefully weigh the pros and cons of involvement in regulatory reporting, and plan data products and applications well in advance to ensure that the sampling scheme and granularity of the data meet the needs of stock assessment, ecosystem, and oceanographic scientists.

A Test of Deriving Sex‐Composition Data for the Directed Pacific Halibut Fishery via At‐Sea Marking

“…Models for doing so can be found in a variety of study fleets (Gawarkiewicz and Mercer 2019) that have been employed to collect fisheries, ecological, and oceanographic data on behalf of management and research agencies, such as the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service's Northeast Cooperative Research Study Fleet (Jones et al. 2022) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's Shelf Research Fleet (see https://www.cfrfoundation.org/shelf-research-fleet). For the Pacific Halibut fishery, a carefully selected and properly compensated research fleet that spans vessel classes, gear types, and the geographic range of the species may provide an opportunity to collect full‐season data that are otherwise unavailable during the summer survey season and capture the unique dynamics of commercial fishing operations.…”

Life History Assessment of Cusk, a Data‐Poor Species, in U.S. Waters

“…Sample collection.-Cusk samples (Table 1) were collected primarily during the spring (April-May) and fall (October-November) operations of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) Gulf of Maine Bottom Longline Survey (BLLS; McElroy et al 2019) and the NEFSC Bottom Trawl Survey (BTS; Politis et al 2014). Additional samples in months outside the survey periods were obtained from commercial vessels participating in the NEFSC Study Fleet (Jones et al 2022). These samples came from vessels using both bottom trawl and rod-andreel gear.…”

“…Additional samples in months outside the survey periods were obtained from commercial vessels participating in the NEFSC Study Fleet (Jones et al. 2022). These samples came from vessels using both bottom trawl and rod‐and‐reel gear.…”

A will-o’-the wisp? On the utility of voluntary contributions of data and knowledge from the fishing industry to marine science

“…They may underestimate the extent of the commitment and continuity of resources required for sustained research (Starr, 2010), making it difficult to ensure that data provision persists (Lordan et al, 2011;Mangi et al, 2015;Mangi et al, 2018;Raicevich et al, 2020;Steins et al, 2020a;Van Helmond et al, 2020). Continuity may also be affected when committed fishers leave the fishery (Jones et al, 2022) or when there are trust issues, for instance, when participating fishers or their peers fear the information they provide will be used against them, serving only to punish efforts of collaboration (Carruthers and Neis, 2011;Kraan et al, 2013;Mangi et al, 2015;Röckmann et al,…”