NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — June 23, 2014 — The former New Bedford Major weighs in on the importance and application of fisheries data.
On the morning of June 5, the Northeast Fisheries Science Center hosted a Pre-TRAC meeting at the New Bedford Public Library.
The TRAC is an international agreement between the United States and Canada under which yearly catch limits for George’s Bank yellowtail, cod, and haddock are determined and allocated appropriately to each Nation. Attendees at the Pre-TRAC meeting included representatives from industry, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and state governmental organizations.
Unfortunately, there were few fishermen present; however, considering that the meeting was held during working hours, it was not surprising that members of a financially struggling industry could not take time off from work to attend.
Industry members present and other attendees did voice many concerns of those that were out fishing. The intent of the meeting was to discuss “updated commercial and research survey data” and the findings from the new “empirical approach” meeting that would be applied to the TRAC benchmark assessments meeting to be held on June 23-27 in Woods Hole. Prior to the June meeting, NEFSC hosted an “empirical approach” TRAC Yellowtail benchmark meeting in April to “evaluate all relevant data sources with respect to their support for alternative hypotheses on stock status and . . . their directional impact on catch advice.”
With NEFSC pledging that the “empirical approach” meeting would be new, innovative, inclusive, and transparent, there was much hype leading up to the April “Empirical Approach” meeting. NEFSC has been criticized in the past for a lack of transparency, collaboration, and using limited and stale data sources because it utilized only two government owned and operated Bigelow trawl surveys and one Canadian trawl survey to assess George’s Bank yellowtail stock when in fact there are several more studies and assessments completed throughout the year by educational institutions and cooperative research.
It is an understatement to say that the fishing industry and stakeholders were excited and supportive of NEFSC’s “empirical approach.” They saw it as an important step forward in increasing collaboration, transparency, and cooperation between researchers to improve upon science and ensure that all data is considered.
Read the full opinon piece published in the Gloucester Times here.