Counting fish

(from the July, 2007 issue of National Fisherman)

Last month I attended four days of a stock assessment meeting at the NMFS’ Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole on Cape Cod. I was doing this for the Monkfish Defense Fund (the MDF), an industry group I’ve been affiliated with since its beginnings almost a decade ago. Asked about it later, I described the four days I was there as the longest two weeks I’d ever slogged thru. In other words, it wasn’t all that enjoyable. But it was informative. In fact, it was tremendously informative (and for those science types reading this, you can stop cringing, because I mean that in a good sense).

I’m not an assessment scientist, not even close. I was never big on statistics, even back in college. Needless to say, much of what went on at Woods Hole was at least a wee bit beyond me. This could be why I found the experience somewhat painful in a long and drawn-out way. Think “four day root canal.”

But was it worth being there? You betcha!

First off, the monkfish fishery has been characterized as “data poor,” indicating, I guess, that extraordinary mathematical/statistical efforts were needed to upgrade the assessment (for an overview of the fishery and its management from my perspective, see “Is this any way to run a business” at http://www.fishnet-usa.com/run_a_business.html). The assessment panel members, both NMFS and “independent” scientists, were there to consider all of the information available on the fishery, to assess its current condition and to make recommendations relative to its future management. They all appeared to be taking the job very seriously and were intent on doing it as well as possible.

If there was a piece of relevant data available on the monkfish stocks or the monkfish fishery, it was considered. Much of the meeting was devoted to fine tuning a computer model that was developed specifically for the monkfish fishery.

The MDF had a scientist there as well, someone who understands all of the technical mumbo jumbo that is so far beyond me. Both his input and mine were sought and considered by the panel. There are subtle, and not so subtle, nuances involved in utilizing data that might not be evident to scientists, no matter how expert they are, from outside the fishery. Because of this, our participation was critical.

On the downside, the panel throughout the meeting was subject to what seemed to me to be inordinate attempts by several members of the Science Center staff to influence the outcome of the deliberations. It felt like they were attempting to “protect” the existing management program – and NMFS’ role in its creation and implementation. Interestingly enough, to support some of their arguments they used information that would have undoubtedly been labeled as “anecdotal” and disregarded had it come from fishermen.

What’s the final impact on the monkfish fishery going to be? At this point, we don’t know. But we do know that an inadequate method of estimating critical stock parameters was addressed and, we assume, will be improved upon.

What’s the take-home message for the industry? When it comes to stock assessments of fisheries you are in, be there. Be there in person, if you’re able. Or have someone there for you. But make sure that he or she knows the fishery, and knows how it interacts with other fisheries, because what might appear to be changes related to the health of the stocks could be due to a totally unrelated factor (the decline in monkfish bycatch in the sea scallop fishery was one that came up in Woods Hole).

But if you aren’t an assessment scientist, or if you doubt that you will understand everything that will be going on at the assessment, also have someone there who does. To as large an extent as possible, the involved industry reps should be there as a part of the process, but getting to that point won’t be easy.

Nils E. Stolpe