April 17, 2026 — Blood, guts, and gore! Those words sound like a review for a horror movie, but it’s actually the basis of my field work. I’ve been looking at and evaluating a lot of fish guts for the Cooperative Research Branch Conversion Factor Project.
Giving Groundfish Conversion Factors a Refresh
Many fish are gutted at sea, which means the internal organs are removed to prevent spoiling. Once these fish are offloaded from a commercial trip, scientists apply a conversion factor to the gutted weight to convert it to a whole weight which they use to evaluate the abundance of a fish stock. As the ocean changes, fluctuations in temperature and shifting prey availability impact fish metabolism and physiology. That can cause changes in average fish size and weight.
The conversion factors used for cod, haddock, and pollock haven’t been updated since the 1960s, so they’re in need of a little refresh. That’s where I come in. I’ve been sailing on commercial groundfish vessels all over the region. The goal? Collect data that represents the landings of the commercial groundfish fleet from different ports, gear types, and gutting methods.
My mobile office changes from vessel to vessel as I bring everything I need to do my job back and forth each time. Sailing aboard commercial fishing vessels is not a 9–5 job. Sometimes we leave in the middle of the day, sometimes we leave in the middle of the night. In fact, the only consistency is that when the lines get thrown, everyone is quite literally in the same boat. I work with the captain and crew on each trip to find a space and establish a work flow that fits their deck space and fishing operations.