Cate O’Keefe, a PhD student at SMAST, took the top award at the Annual Science Conference of the world’s largest marine science and advisory body, in Berlin. In her paper, she noted that "crises in the fishing industry have caused distrust between fishers and fishery scientists" but even in the midst of crises, "fishers and scientists have found ways to work together." She noted that "the success of cooperative research hinges on participation from the fishing industry throughout the entirety of the research programme, from project design to data analysis."
Cate O’Keefe, a PhD student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology, took the top award for “best presentation” at the Annual Science Conference of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), the world’s largest marine science and advisory body, in Berlin, Germany.
Over 650 marine scientists met in Berlin to discuss the status and future of the oceans. There were approximately 390 papers in the conference, and Cate’s was judged to be the best. The Merit Award gives formal recognition to the best research paper and poster given at the Annual Science Conference, and to the best up-and-coming new scientist making a presentation at the Annual Science Conference. Many of her colleagues anticipated that Cate had a good shot to win the ‘newcomer award’ for students, but described her winning the best presentation as "remarkable" for someone her age.
In her Ph.D. studies, Cate is studying sea scallop management, and she serves as a member is a member of the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC) Scallop Planning Development Team (PDT). This was her first presentation at ICES, which is the primary Fisheries organization for the North Atlantic. Her colleagues said that to win the "best paper award" is outstanding.
Cate’s presentation was in "Session L" entitled "Bringing collaborative science – industry research data into stock assessment and fishery management: evaluating progress and future options." Her presentation was: ICES CM 2009/L:05 From bust to boom: the success of industry collaboration in US sea scallop research by Catherine E. O’Keefe and Kevin D. E. Stokesbury.
The following is the description of her presentation in the session abstracts
Crises in the fishing industry have caused distrust between fishers and fishery scientists. In such crises, fishers and scientists have found ways to work together, resulting in cooperative research programmes. Despite the clear benefits of cooperation, including industry empowerment, transparency of analysis and unbiased results, cooperative research programmes often lack the critical components that make the collected data useful for management decisions. The success of cooperative research hinges on participation from the fishing industry throughout the entirety of the research programme, from project design to data analysis. Furthermore, answerable, scientific questions must be outlined at the start of the research. Finally, data must be collected and analysed in a way that can be translated into management decisions and accepted by regulatory agencies. We have conducted a video survey for Atlantic sea scallops cooperatively with the US scallop fishing industry since 1999. The survey was initiated by the fishing industry as a result of decreased landings and increased regulatory actions with the goal of determining the number of scallops on Georges Bank. Over the last decade, industry participation has grown to include over 300 vessels and 20 shore-based operations. Data and results from the video survey have been included in traditional stock assessments and decision-making processes and have been instrumental in maintaining the success of the area rotation management scheme. This case study outlines the initiation of the survey and examines the success and difficulties associated with bringing cooperative research data into the management arena.
More information about the conference