Improvements to Data Collection in Commercial Fisheries Using Electronic Reporting Methods: Cost/Efficiency and Implications for Use in Ecosystem Management.

Data have been collected on fisheries catch and effort trends since the latter half of the 1800s. With current trends in declining stocks and stricter management regimes, data need to be collected and analyzed over shorter periods and at finer spatial resolution than in the past. New methods of electronic reporting may reduce the lag time in data collection and provide more accurate spatial resolution. In this study I evaluated the differences between fish dealer and vessel reporting systems for federal fisheries in the US New England and Mid-Atlantic areas. Using data on landing date, report date, gear used, port landed, number of hauls, number of fish sampled and species quotas from available catch and effort records I compared dealer and vessel electronically collected data against paper collected dealer and vessel data to determine if electronically collected data are timelier and more accurate. To determine if vessel or dealer electronic reporting is more useful for management, I determined differences in timeliness and accuracy between vessel and dealer electronic reports. I also compared the cost and efficiency of these new methods with less technology intensive reporting methods using available cost data and surveys of seafood dealers for cost information. Using this information I identified potentially unnecessary duplication of effort and identified applications in ecosystem-based fisheries management. This information can be used to guide the decisions of fisheries managers in the United States and other countries that are attempting to identify appropriate fisheries reporting methods for the management regimes under consideration. (PDF contains 370 pages)

An analysis of poverty and aquatic resources use - focusing especially on the livelihoods of the poor - in Cambodia

The main objectives of this report, which is based on the current literature and key informant interviews, is to assess and analyse the nature and distribution of poverty and aquatic resources use, focusing especially on the livelihoods of the poor. It describes and reports different ways of measuring poverty that are used in Cambodia and quantifies the diverse nature and geographic distribution of aquatic resources use in Cambodia. (PDF contains 55 pages)

Reef Habitats in the Middle Atlantic Bight: Abundance, Distribution, Associated Biological Communities, and Fishery Resource Use

One particular habitat type in the Middle Atlantic Bight is not well recognized among fishery scientists and managers, although it is will known and used by recreational and commercial fisheries. This habitat consists of a variety of hard-surface, elevated relief "reef" or reef-like environments that are widely distributed across the predominantly flat or undulating, sandy areas of the Bight and include both natural rocky areas and man-made structures, e.g. shipwrecks and artificial reefs. Although there are natural rock and shellfish reefs in southern New England coastal waters and estuaries throughout the Bight, most reef habitats in the region appear to be man-made reef habitat modification/creation may be increasing. Very little effort has been devoted to the study of this habitat's distribution, abundance, use by living marine resources and associated biological communities (except on estuarine oyster reefs) and fishery value or management. This poorly studied and surveyed habitat can provide fish refuge from trawls and can be a factor in studies of the distribution and abundance of a variety of reef-associated fishery resources. This review provides a preliminary summary of information found on relative distribution and abundance of reef habitat in the Bight, the living marine resources and biological communities that commonly use it, threats to this habitat and its biological resources, and the value or potential value of artificial reefs to fishery or habitat and its biological resources, and the value or potential value of artificial reefs to fishery or habitat managers. The purpose of the review is to initiate an awareness among resource managers about this habitat, its role in resource management, and the need for research.

Chief Kerry's moose : a guidebook to land use and occupancy mapping, research design, and data collection

Aboriginal peoples in Canada have been mapping aspects of their cultures for more than a generation. Indians, Inuit, Métis, non-status Indians and others have called their maps by different names at various times and places: land use and occupancy; land occupancy and use; traditional use; traditional land use and occupancy; current use; cultural sensitive areas; and so on. I use “land use and occupancy mapping” in a generic sense to include all the above. The term refers to the collection of interview data about traditional use of resources and occupancy of lands by First Nation persons, and the presentation of those data in map form. Think of it as the geography of oral tradition, or as the mapping of cultural and resource geography. (PDF contains 81 pages.)

Distribution, movements, and habitat use of small striped bass (Morone saxatilis) across multiple spatial scales

Distribution, movements, and habitat use of small (<46 cm, juveniles and individuals of unknown maturity) striped bass (Morone saxatilis) were investigated with multiple techniques and at multiple spatial scales (surveys and tag-recapture in the estuary and ocean, and telemetry in the estuary) over multiple years to determine the frequency and duration of use of non-natal estuaries. These unique comparisons suggest, at least in New Jersey, that smaller individuals (<20 cm) may disperse from natal estuaries and arrive in non-natal estuaries early in life and take up residence for several years. During this period of estuarine residence, individuals spend all seasons primarily in the low salinity portions of the estuary. At larger sizes, they then leave these non-natal estuaries to begin coastal migrations with those individuals from nurseries in natal estuaries. These composite observations of frequency and duration of habitat use indicate that non-natal estuaries may provide important habitat for a portion of the striped bass population.