The Power of Data: Using Fine-Scale, near-Real-Time Information to Advance Fishery Science and Management

Starting in 2006 Pacific Northwest commercial ocean troll fisheries for Chinook salmon have been severely restricted or closed due to low abundance of Sacramento River and Klamath River fall Chinook. In 2005, anticipating the Klamath River fishery restrictions, a collaboration of fishermen, scientists, and seafood marketers initiated Project CROOS (Collaborative Research on Oregon Ocean Salmon) to explore the potential of genetic stock identification (GSI) to provide fisheries managers with better data to manage harvest. The object was to improve knowledge of Chinook salmon stock distributions in the hope of enabling fishermen to avoid weak stocks. Fishermen bar-coded each fish caught, recorded the location using geographic positioning system (GPS) devices, collected fin clips (for GSI) and scales (for aging), along with fish length and depth caught. Data were used to map changing distributions, by stock, throughout the fishery. In 2010, Oregon and California ocean fisheries were sampled weekly from May through September, providing the first broad-scale application of this technique. Data were assembled in a central data base where they can be associated with supporting data sets including oceanographic data, satellite observations, and coded-wire tag data. Results can be used to examine patterns of distribution at regional (1000 km) to local (1km) scales. Applications include coast-wide fishery management, scientific investigations of salmon migratory behavior in relation to the dynamic ocean environment, and a resource for individual fishermen to track and understand their fishing operations. Through the Pacific Fish Trax website, www.pacificfishtrax.org, data base access, analysis, and mapping tools are being developed to serve a broad audience. The web site is designed to provide access tailored to the needs of specific user groups, and to be extended to accommodate new species, data types, and users. The ultimate goal is to develop a coast-wide data network with flexible tools to serve the full spectrum of needs and services supporting a variety of West Coast fisheries.