Fisheries Data Exchange Standards Are Important to AFS

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 and related environmental data among researchers, managers, and stakeholders. There is a long history of AFS activities that document the need for standards and procedures for exchanging fisheries data and we have seen some successes at regional scales. To continue 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. AFS will provide opportunities for feedback from 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 political boundaries and advance our collaboration with our professional membership base.