Integrating Electronic Monitoring and Other Data into a Modernized Fishery Dependent Data System

The needs/uses of fishery dependent data have changed over the past 20 years, yet data collection, storage, and analytical processes have remained relatively static.  Emerging data needs require a reexamination of existing collections and processes to provide more detailed, integrated, and timely data for all stakeholders.  In 2013, the National Marine Fisheries Service Northeast Fisheries Science Center and Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office began an effort to modernize the regional fishery dependent data system by identifying the existing and anticipated data needs/uses of all data stakeholders.  By separating the needs and uses from collection mechanisms, data streams were emphasized instead of data collection mechanisms.  This approach helped identify ways to reduce redundancy, increase accuracy, and overcome procedural and technical limitations that previously impeded integration of various data sources.  Since the intended use of EM (compliance, effort documentation, catch and bycatch quantification) dictates how that data stream is structured, the intended use will also affect how such data are integrated with other data sources and distributed among stakeholders in a modernized system.  These considerations are now being used to streamline data collection, evaluation, and distribution processes to more efficiently provide the highest quality data to meet industry, scientific, and management needs.