Review of Draft Government Guidance on Fishery Data Collection Methods

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is required to assess the total amount of marine life removed from the oceans by fishing. Placing scientific observers onboard fishing boats is an important monitoring tool used in their assessments. However, the government must determine how many independent observers should be placed on fishing boats to assess the catch in order to reliably determine the catch for the entire fishery. This project reviews the U.S. government’s methods to determine how much observer coverage is needed on fishing boats to assess target and incidental catch.