Description
How fisher self sampling can enhance pelagic fisheries data collection.There is increasing interest throughout global fisheries to enhance traditional methods of fishery monitoring through the involvement of the fishing industry in data collection. Fisher self-sampling has the potential to provide valuable information, across fishing seasons and grounds, in an efficient and cost effective manner, and collaboration between industry and science can build valuable partnerships. In 2018, the Scottish Pelagic Industry Self-sampling Scheme began its development and testing phase, in partnership with the NAFC Marine Centre (NAFC), Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association (SPFA), and Marine Scotland Science (MSS), supported by the EU project ‘PANDORA’ (Paradigm for New Dynamic Oceanic Resource Assessments). The testing phase aims to design and develop robust self-sampling data collection methods that can be applied across the Scottish pelagic industry to provide quality data to inform stock assessment. To fulfil this aim - and establish a new approach to Scottish pelagic data collection – the scheme needs to address two important questions: (1) Can it prove the methods are fit-for-purpose? And, (2) Can it demonstrate that the resulting data are of sufficient quality & utility for application to current, and possible future, stock assessment methods? Here we take a critical look at these questions: methods are analysed and evaluated (with input from both industry and science), and data are examined and compared with traditional market sampling data (which currently provide catch-at-age numbers for stock assessment). The significance of the scheme is also considered in the wider context of international coordination of fishery data monitoring, with the potential to contribute to and improve regional catch sampling of widely distributed pelagic stocks in the north-east Atlantic. Finally, comment is provided on next steps for the future of Scottish pelagic industry self-sampling.
| Period | 21 Sept 2021 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Degree of Recognition | International |