| History:
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) deploys fishery observers to collect catch data from US commercial fishing and processing vessels. Nearly 20 different fisheries are monitored by observer programs annually. NMFS has been using observers to collect fisheries data from 1972 to the present. Observers have monitored fishing activities on all US coasts, collecting data for a range of conservation and management issues. The National Marine Fisheries Service coordinates observer program management through the NMFS Office of Science and Technology/National Observer Program (NOP). The NOP seeks to support observer programs and increase their usefulness to the overall goals of NMFS. Improvements in data collection, observer training, and the integration of observer data with other research are among the important issues that the NOP works with on a national level. |
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The Pelagic Observer Program (POP) at the Miami Laboratory began in May of 1992. The POP, with a corps of 10-12 observers, monitors a mobile U.S. pelagic longline fleet ranging from the Grand Banks to off Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico.
Vessels range in size from 35 feet to 90 feet and trips typically last 2- 45 days. During an average year, the observer corps will spend about 900 days at sea based on 70-75 vessel trips, and observe about 500 longline sets.
The distance of a longline set can range from 10 to 40 miles fishing from 200 to 1000 baited hooks about 100 yards apart.
The POP targets an 8% coverage of the vessels based on the fishing effort of the fleet. Observer personnel must be able to endure adverse environmental conditions while at sea.
They are trained in sea survival, medical first aid, fish identification, and the collection of biological and statistical data. They record fish species, length, weight, sex, location, and other environmental information.
The information collected are used to evaluate the harvest and status of the pelagic fish stocks and is important in evaluating the effectiveness of management measures to control harvest levels.
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| Contact: |
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Pelagic Observer Program Coordinator: Larry Beerkircher Observer's Office 1-800-858-0624
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