Indices derived from fishery-independent survey data are crucial inputs to stock assessments that are used to provide fishery management advice. Demands on fishery-independent surveys have increased as the climate changes, industries evolve, assessments increasingly incorporate ecosystem data, and competing ocean uses introduce operational challenges. Resources for conducting surveys have frequently not kept pace with the need to characterize increasingly dynamic populations and ecosystems. Fortunately, technological advances, survey designs, and statistical and computational developments have made it possible to collect and integrate large volumes of data more efficiently than ever before. Leveraging these advances will allow for the maximization of the limited resources allocated for fishery-independent surveys while ensuring surveys are robust to both predictable and unpredictable challenges While we adapt, maintaining the integrity of time series that underpin stock assessments is paramount. Here, we showcase technological, statistical, and operational solutions to challenges in fishery-independent surveys across aquatic environments.
Organizer: Derek Bolser, National Marine Fisheries Service, [email protected]
Co-organizers: Stan Kotwicki, Catherine Foley
Supported by: NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology