August 30, 2017 — NARRAGANSETT, R.I. — The following is excerpted from an article published today by the Providence Journal:
Fisheries management is only as good as the science that it’s based upon. The better the science, the more effective the management.
For the past three years, Point Judith fisherman Chris Roebuck has partnered with federal regulators to get a better handle on fish stocks, taking scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration out to sea on his 78-foot Western-rig stern trawler the Karen Elizabeth to help figure out where groundfish are and in what numbers.
This summer’s trip wrapped up this week when the team of five researchers led by John Manderson, a senior ecosystem field scientist with NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and a four-man crew headed by Roebuck returned to port in Galilee with new information on summer flounder, red hake and other species.
Their research is more important than ever as regulators try to respond more nimbly to shifts in fish abundance and distribution caused by the changing climate.
The work depends on the collaboration between Roebuck and Manderson.
“I can’t do this research without him because I don’t know the ecosystem the way he does,” Manderson said. “I can work with him and quantify what he knows.”
Roebuck, 45, has been fishing his whole life. A second-generation fisherman, he was lobstering at 12 and has captained the Karen Elizabeth for the past two decades.
He fishes for squid from September to April and for sea scallops from April to June, trawling ocean waters from Delaware to the Canada border.
Working with the fisheries science center was a no-brainer for Roebuck, who believes that there are more fish in the sea than regulators are currently counting. Better data could end up benefiting him and other fishermen if they’re allowed to catch more.
“In the end, I’m just interested in making the science more accurate,” Roebuck said.