Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Cooperative Ecosystem Studies (DOC)

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (14) ◽  
pp. 5-5
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Ecosystem Studies

Satellite Detection of Ghost Nets and Plastic Debris in Pacific Atolls

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangrong Ling ◽  
Lauren Biermann ◽  
Mark Manuel ◽  
Ellen Ramirez ◽  
Austin Coates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Imagery ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Spectral Angle Mapper ◽  
Plastic Debris ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Derelict Fishing Gear ◽  
Satellite Analysis

<p><span>Since 2014, the NOAA Satellite Analysis Branch has used high resolution optical satellite imagery in an effort to detect ghost nets (derelict fishing gear) and other large plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean and its atolls in support of clean-up efforts (by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Ocean Voyages Institute, etc.). Until recently, reliable detection has proven challenging. With the application of Worldview imagery matched to <em>in situ</em> information on known net locations, we have been able to extract spectral signatures of floating plastics and use these to detect and identify other instances of plastic debris. Using ENVI’s Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) target detection method, a number of likely locations of nets/plastics in the Pearl and Hermes atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) were highlighted. The resulting locations of the 41 debris detections were strikingly similar to the distributions along the coast reported in surveys, and are consistent with those that would be expected due to the seasonal ocean currents. This satellite imagery analysis procedure will be repeated shortly before the next NWHI clean-up effort, which will better enable us to support the removal of ghost nets and other marine plastics, and also assess the accuracy and rapid reproducibility of the technique.</span></p>

Catch and Release in Marine Recreational Fisheries

2002 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Migratory Species ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna ◽  
Tag Retention ◽  
Catch And Release ◽  
Istiophorus Platypterus ◽  
Makaira Nigricans ◽  
Fishing Vessels

<em>Abstract.</em>—The Cooperative Tagging Center (CTC) of the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Southeast Fisheries Science Center operates one of the largest and oldest fish tagging programs of its type in the world. Since 1954, more than 35,000 recreational and commercial fishing constituents have voluntarily participated in the CTC, and this has resulted in tagging more than 245,000 fish of 123 species. Although some tagging activities have been conducted by scientists, most of the tag release and recovery activities were achieved by recreational and commercial fishery constituents. Five large highly migratory species have historically represented the Program’s primary target species, including Atlantic bluefin tuna <em> Thunnus thynnus</em>, blue marlin <em> Makaira nigricans</em>, white marlin <em> Tetrapturus albidus</em>, sailfish <em> Istiophorus platypterus</em>, and broadbill swordfish <em> Xiphias gladius</em>. Tagging equipment and procedures for catching, tagging, and resuscitation of species too large to be brought aboard fishing vessels have evolved and improved considerably over the years. This paper presents a review of the development of the most efficient tagging, handling, and dehooking techniques used on a variety of large, highly migratory species in the CTC. In addition, the results of a comparative tag retention study on billfish are presented, comparing stainless steel dart tags used for nearly 30 years with a hydroscopic nylon double-barb dart tag, recently developed in conjunction with The Billfish Foundation. Recommendations are made on the best techniques, procedures, and equipment for in-water tagging of large, highly migratory species.

scholarly journals Age-specific differences in the seasonal spatial distribution of butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus)

2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 170-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Trawl Survey ◽  
Spatial Equilibrium ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Specific Analysis ◽  
Stock Assessments ◽  
Seasonal Analysis

The spatial distribution of butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus) in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean was investigated using a suite of spatial indicators based on Northeast Fisheries Science Center spring and fall bottom trawl survey data, 1982–2013. In the spring, ages 2 and 3 were found farther northeast and deeper than age 1 butterfish, while in the fall, age 3 butterfish were found farther northeast and deeper than ages 0 and 1. There was no significant northward movement of butterfish in spring or fall over the course of either time-series. However, there was a significant increase in the area occupied by ages 1–3 in the spring that was correlated with surface temperature. This illustrates that responses to climate change may be manifested as range expansions, rather than poleward movement of the centre of gravity (i.e. bivariate weighted mean location of the population). Two changes were observed over the course of the fall time series, both for ages 1 and 2: increased spatial dispersion; and a decrease in depth. The former result would have been masked, while the latter would have been erroneously generalized to all age classes, if an age-specific analysis had not been done. This study demonstrates the importance of an age-based and seasonal analysis. It is also shown how a spatial distribution analyses can inform stock assessments by providing insights into diverging survey indices and availability to surveys in general. Similarly, spatial distribution analyses can be used to verify the spatial equilibrium assumption for the calculation of biological reference points.

scholarly journals Time-series metabarcoding analysis of zooplankton diversity of the NW Atlantic continental shelf

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1162-1176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Bucklin ◽  
Heidi D Yeh ◽  
Jennifer M Questel ◽  
David E Richardson ◽  
Bo Reese ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
Hypervariable Region ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Ecosystem Monitoring ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Ocean Ecosystem ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Abstract Biodiversity of zooplankton is central to the functioning of ocean ecosystems, yet morphological taxonomic analysis requires teams of experts and detailed examination of many samples. Metabarcoding (DNA sequencing of short amplified regions of one or a few genes from environmental samples) is a powerful tool for analysis of the composition and diversity of natural communities. The 18S rRNA V9 hypervariable region was sequenced for 26 zooplankton samples collected from the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, and Mid-Atlantic Bight during ecosystem monitoring surveys by the U.S. Northeast Fisheries Science Center during 2002–2012. A total of 7 648 033 sequences and 22 072 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified and classified into 28 taxonomic groups of plankton. Comparative analysis of molecular (V9 sequence numbers) and morphological (abundance counts) focused on seven taxonomic groups and revealed similar patterns of variation among years and regions. Sequence numbers and abundance counts showed positive correlation for all groups, with significant correlations (p &lt; 0.05) for Calanoida, Gastropoda, and Chaetognatha. Shannon diversity index values calculated using sequence numbers and abundance counts showed highly significant correlation (r = 0.625; p &lt; 0.001) across all regions during 2002–2012. This study demonstrates the potential of metabarcoding for time-series analysis of zooplankton biodiversity, ocean ecosystem assessment, and fisheries management.

scholarly journals Report of the Workshop on Status and Trends of Western North Atlantic Right Whales

2001 ◽  
pp. 61-87
Author(s):  
IWC Int
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Status And Trends ◽  
Right Whales ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whales

The meeting was held at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA from 24-27 October 1999.

Documenting Provenance for Reproducible Marine Ecosystem Assessment in Open Science

2018 ◽  
pp. 1051-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaogang Ma ◽  
Stace E. Beaulieu ◽  
Linyun Fu ◽  
Peter Fox ◽  
Massimo Di Stefano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Solid Support ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Provenance Information ◽  
Ecosystem Assessment ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Machine Readable ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Community Standard

Open Science not only means the openness of various resources involved in a scientific study but also the connections among those resources that demonstrate the origin, or provenance, of a scientific finding or derived dataset. In this chapter, the authors used the PROV Ontology, a community standard for representing and exchanging machine-readable provenance information in the Semantic Web, and extended it for capturing provenance in the IPython Notebook, a software platform that enables transparent workflows. The developed work was used in conjunction with scientists' workflows in the Ecosystem Assessment Program of the U.S. NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center. This work provides a pathway towards formal, well-annotated provenance in an electronic notebook. Not only will the use of such technologies and standards facilitate the verifiability and reproducibility of ecosystem assessments, their use will also provide solid support for Open Science at the interface of science and ecosystem management for sustainable marine ecosystems.

scholarly journals Using acoustics to estimate the fish-length selectivity of trawl mesh

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (7) ◽  
pp. 1558-1565 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Somerton ◽  
Kresimir Williams ◽  
Paul G. von Szalay ◽  
Craig S. Rose
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Acoustic Method ◽  
Otter Trawl ◽  
Fish Length ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Eastern Bering Sea ◽  
Mesh Selection ◽  
Acoustic Methods ◽  
Acoustic Surveys

Abstract Somerton, D. A., Williams, K., von Szalay, P. G., and Rose, C. S. 2011. Using acoustics to estimate the fish-length selectivity of trawl mesh. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1558–1565. Estimation of the retention probability of a trawlnet traditionally involves conducting experiments during which the fish escaping through the meshes are recaptured using either small-mesh pocketnets attached to the outside of the net or by enclosing the entire trawlnet in a small-mesh net. A new method of estimating the length selectivity of trawl mesh is demonstrated; it does not require the recapture of escaping fish but instead uses standard acoustic methods to estimate the abundance of fish entering the net before mesh selection. The method was applied to the 83–112 eastern otter trawl used by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) to conduct bottom-trawl surveys in the eastern Bering Sea (EBS), and the Aleutian wing trawl used by the AFSC to collect midwater biological samples of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) during fishery acoustic surveys of the EBS and Gulf of Alaska. The length selectivities of both trawls were also estimated using standard recapture experiments. For both, the estimated lengths at 50% selection (L50) from the acoustic method were similar to the estimates from the recapture experiments, but the estimated selection ranges were narrower. The advantages of the acoustic method are that it is simpler to use than traditional fish-recapture methods and it does not alter normal trawl performance.

Two-Million-Liter Tank Expands the Boundaries of Marine Technology Innovation: National Resource Available for Advancing Marine Science

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Demer ◽  
George Randall Cutter ◽  
Kevin L. Stierhoff ◽  
Josiah S. Renfree
Keyword(s):  
Optical Sensors ◽  
Technology Development ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Marine Research ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
Large Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Ocean Science ◽  
National Resource

AbstractWith one small move across a street, NOAA Fisheries, our nation's steward of marine ecosystems, made a giant leap into the future of ocean science and technology development. The new Southwest Fisheries Science Center facility in La Jolla, California, houses dozens of interdisciplinary research and engineering groups and features a world-class Ocean Technology Development Tank that expands the possibilities for advancing marine industry and science. This 20 × 10 × 10-meter, two-million-liter, freshwater or seawater “Tech Tank” is clear, quiet, and large enough to calibrate and test a wide variety of sensitive instruments with minimal boundary effects. The tank's temperature, salinity, and circulation can be made to mimic the broad range of water conditions encountered in the field, its water conditioning system greatly mitigates microbubbles and turbidity, and it can accommodate live marine animals. This unique combination of features opens doors to efficient engineering and scientific experimentation. The Tech Tank, supported by scientists and engineers and co-located with other state-of-the-art laboratory facilities, is a unique national resource for marine research and development and a catalyst for government, academic, and industry partnerships. The broad range of new possibilities is exemplified by multiple recent collaborative developments of acoustic and optical sensors and sensor platforms that effectively expand the boundaries of oceanic sampling, particularly near the sea surface, seabed, and seashore, to more efficiently and accurately monitor large marine ecosystems.

scholarly journals Casting a wide net and making the most of the catch

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha Varanasi
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Young Professionals ◽  
Fisheries Science ◽  
The People ◽  
Science Community ◽  
The Impact ◽  
And Training ◽  
Health Programme

Abstract I describe lessons learned and the people and principles that influenced six decades of professional endeavours from graduate schools to ascending, often unexpectedly, the science and management ladder in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries, which manages US living marine resources. For this woman chemist from India, the twists of fate and love of adventure presented amazing opportunities as well as challenges. My research on cetacean biosonar as well as on the impact of fossil fuel pollution on seafood safety and the health of marine organisms taught me the value of multidisciplinary approaches and unusual alliances. Transitioning into management, and eventually as the director of Northwest Fisheries Science Center, I learned the value of transparency and empathy while communicating our results to impacted communities, and the resolve to support the science regardless of the consequences. My advice to young professionals is that the journey should be as fulfilling as reaching the goalpost. At the twilight of my own journey, I networked with NOAA Fisheries and India’s marine science community to encourage scientist exchanges and training. My participation in University of Washington’s nature and human health programme confirms my conviction that conserving healthy ecosystems is a powerful and practical approach for people and our planet.

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