Co-Convenors: Steven Barbeaux (USA), Jennifer Boldt (Canada), Martin Dorn (USA) and Jae Bong Lee (Korea)
Invited Speaker:
Rudy Kloser (CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Australia)
Long-term monitoring is a key component of an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management. Time series data enable the examination of changes in oceanographic and community metrics. Government funding sources for long-term monitoring of biological and oceanographic processes has dwindled in recent years, while the mandate for this type of information has increased. If data driven ecosystem-based management continues to be goal then methods for reducing the costs of data collection must be found while data quality is maintained. An example of this type of innovative approach can be found in Alaska walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) fishery where researchers have teamed with commercial fishers to deploy inexpensive temperature and depth data storage tags on trawl nets. At the same time, data on fish density and distribution are being collected using the fishing vessels’ own acoustic systems. These data are being used to validate oceanographic models, to assess the effects of oceanographic conditions on bycatch in the walleye pollock fishery, and to evaluate the effects of oceanographic conditions on walleye pollock density and distribution. This session is intended to explore the ways in which cooperative research with other seagoing stakeholders and the use of commercial and recreational vessels as sampling platforms for biological and oceanographic monitoring can be integrated into ocean monitoring systems. With sufficient interest by the contributors, a special issue of Fisheries Research will be sought.