NOAA Fisheries Announces $2.3 Million to Study Atlantic Mackerel with the Northeast Fishing Industry
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By fisheries.noaa.gov, fisheries.noaa.gov.
NOAA Fisheries is beginning a cooperative research initiative, partnering with the Northeast fishing industry to learn more about Atlantic mackerel population dynamics. The initiative will receive $2.3 million in the current fiscal year.
The project will engage more than 50 fishing vessels to collect and analyze data to improve our understanding of the Atlantic mackerel stock. Fishing vessels will be involved in:
- Developing acoustic technologies to detect and quantify mackerel, including active acoustics
- Collecting mackerel samples for biological analysis
- Tagging mackerel to understand movement between US and Canadian waters
- Participating in mackerel egg surveys to better understand spawning
- Developing and testing hypotheses about the ecosystem drivers of mackerel
This research initiative builds upon the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s 20-year model of success with cooperative research. This research includes working with the fishing industry to identify research needs, collect data, and support sustainable management of resource species.
“Cooperative research is critical because it brings to bear the combined knowledge of fishermen and scientists. This allows us to make smarter management decisions,” explained NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler.
This study will investigate industry observations of increasing abundance after a previous decline in spawning stock biomass. Atlantic mackerel is most widely distributed and often observed by the fishing fleet in the winter and early spring, which results in limited overlap with fisheries surveys. Developing new tools to measure mackerel biomass using advanced acoustic technologies and analytical methods is an important component of this research.
This new research initiative aims to address key uncertainties in the Atlantic mackerel stock assessment to improve our understanding of the resource and management of the fishery. This study will also characterize the spawning seasonality of Atlantic mackerel on the U.S. continental shelf and advance our understanding of ecosystem drivers of mackerel abundance.
Read the full article here: NOAA Fisheries Announces $2.3 Million to Study Atlantic Mackerel with the Northeast Fishing Industry
