October 25, 2015 — These days it seems as though every story about the New England groundfishery contains a headline with “crisis” or “disaster” in it, often followed by claims and counterclaims from fishermen, environmental groups and fishery regulators. Yet amidst all the controversy there is general agreement on one point: the need for better fishery science, to enable more timely and more accurate stock assessments.
The data used for fish stock assessment in the Northeast is derived primarily from the annual spring and fall surveys conducted by the Henry B. Bigelow, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s 208-foot research vessel. The results are largely distrusted by many fishermen who contend that NOAA is using the wrong bottom-trawl gear on a vessel that is in any case too large for the task. Furthermore, fishermen say, random sampling of the vast survey area is not sufficient to develop an accurate picture of stock abundance.
To get a better picture of what is happening in the ocean the fishing industry has been urging NOAA Fisheries to engage in more collaborative research, using commercial fishing vessels with crews working alongside fishery scientists. This is not a radical idea. It is already in effect in fisheries on the West Coast and it is also happening here in the shallower coastal waters of the northeastern seaboard. The Bigelow’s deep draft of 19.5 feet precludes it from working inshore.
Read the full opinion piece at the New Bedford Standard-Times