New System Maps and Charts West Coast Fisheries Data to Inform Decisions on Ocean Uses
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By fisheries.noaa.gov, fisheries.noaa.gov.
A new system combines decades of fisheries data and statistics to visualize West Coast fisheries and how they have changed over time.
The Pacific Fishing Effort Mapping Project was led by researchers at NOAA, state wildlife departments, and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. It consolidates location and catch data from fishing vessels with landings and economic figures into revealing maps and charts of major West Coast fisheries. It then shows how they may be affected by other ocean uses. For instance, the new system turns data on the catch value of groundfish into a landscape of colors depicting the West Coast with the highest value catch areas standing out boldly.
“By combining all this data into one place to visualize it all together, we can begin to see patterns, tradeoffs and comparisons that we might not notice otherwise,” said Lisa Pfeiffer, a research economist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center who helped lead development of the system. Funded by NOAA and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, it is designed to inform marine planning and compare different uses of the ocean and their implications for fisheries.
The system can help inform progress on NOAA Fisheries’ National Seafood Strategy and support the Executive Order on Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.
The displays that are available to the public have already helped inform international dialogue, according to Aaron Berger, a research mathematical statistician at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. His team used an early version of the displays to help U.S. and Canadian managers and industry workers understand the distribution of Pacific hake, also known as whiting. The shift coincided with several years of lower catches in Canada that fell short of what managers had expected under the treaty that governs the international fishery.
“The tool has been helpful to view, understand, and communicate fleet-specific spatial fishing patterns and how they change over time,” said Berger.
Read the full article here: New System Maps and Charts West Coast Fisheries Data to Inform Decisions on Ocean Uses
