The Timing Is Right for Fisheries Data Exchange Standards

The American Fisheries Society (AFS) supports efforts to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science. To achieve this mission, there is an ever increasing need for the effective and efficient exchange of fisheries data among researchers, managers, and stakeholders. Since the 1970’s, there have been multiple publications, meetings, and symposia that document the need for standards and procedures for exchanging fisheries data to more effectively manage our fisheries and aquatic resources. To advance this issue and address the challenges that have been repeatedly identified, the AFS is a leading partner in an effort to investigate and develop a fisheries data exchange standard. As a professional society that encompasses a wide breadth of the fisheries profession, AFS can engage long-standing federal, state, and NGO partners throughout the process.  AFS will provide opportunities for outreach to the Society’s membership during development, review, and future implementation of these standards.  Improving data exchange between agencies, in the United States and elsewhere, will substantially improve our ability to manage fisheries resources across geopolitical boundaries and advance our collaboration with our professional membership base.