July 15, 2020 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:
When Gulf of Alaska rockfish fishermen approached NOAA Fisheries biologist Mark Zimmermann with an innovative proposal, he saw a potential solution to a rocky problem.
“They offered to collect scientific data in ‘untrawlable’ areas where standard NOAA Fisheries survey trawls can’t sample fish populations. I was impressed with the advanced technology that they use to fish in these rocky, steep habitats, like a live-feed video camera that helps them target their catch while minimizing gear and habitat damage,” Zimmermann said. “I was also impressed that they wanted to use these capabilities to improve rockfish assessments. This fishery is really important to them, and they want to invest in the resource by providing us scientific data to manage it. They want to help ensure that annual catch limits are sustainable.”
That conversation spawned a cooperative pilot study to explore the possibility of using industry catch and effort data to inform Gulf of Alaska rockfish assessments. The new project is called the Science-Industry Rockfish Research Collaboration in Alaska.
“Rockfish fishermen are taking a long-term stake in conservation,” said John Gauvin, science projects director at Alaska Seafood Cooperative (offshore harvest cooperative). “The industry has made large investments to improve fishing practices. We hope some of those innovative fishing practices will provide data for this cooperative effort to improve rockfish stock assessments in the Gulf of Alaska. We expect this will take a strong partnership between industry and scientists, and we are fully on board with that. We are ready to make the necessary investment in time and resources to make it successful.”