Current Status of Accomplishment or Milestone: The report is presently at the publisher; the citation to the work is: Boehlert, G.W. and J.D. Schumacher, eds. 1997. Changing Oceans and Changing Fisheries: Environmental Data for Fisheries Research and Management. NOAA Tech. Memo. NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-239. 146 p. To view or download this document, click here.
Background: An increasing awareness of the importance of environmental variability in managing fishery populations, protected species, and ecosystems requires that NMFS improve its capabilities for the use of environmental information. A workshop was convened at NOAA's Pacific Fisheries Environmental Group in Pacific Grove, California, on 16-18 July 1996, to examine the uses of environmental data for fisheries. The workshop was funded by the NOAA ESDIM program with some supplemental funding from the NSF's US GLOBEC program.
Purpose of Activity/Goal of Project: The objectives of the workshop were to i) assess the current and future needs for environmental data bases (oceanographic, atmospheric, remote sensing, model output, and geological) in fisheries research and management, ii) identify data sources and formats, and iii) recommend ways to facilitate access to the data.
Description of Accomplishment and Significant Results: The workshop report will include six papers by fisheries scientists addressing how environmental data are used in fisheries related investigations and eight papers by physical and computer scientists from NASA, NOAA, and the Navy describing environmental data available, including that from ocean models and geophysical investigations. Nineteen additional abstracts from demonstrations of ocean model output, data management systems, poster presentations, and contributed abstracts are also included, as are written reports from five working groups and workshop recommendations in priority order.
Significance of Accomplishment (e.g., to the Center, to Management, and to NMFS Strategic plan Goals): Diverse federal and state agencies are in the business of environmental data collection and compilation and new computer and database technologies are rapidly advancing. It is difficult for NMFS scientists to keep up with these changes. This meeting was co-convened by NMFS and OAR. All five NMFS science centers as well as headquarters were represented at the workshop, as were most line offices of NOAA, NASA, the Navy, NSF, Canada, Great Britain, and 7 academic institutions. The information provided in the workshop report will serve as an important source of information on use of environmental data in fisheries research and management, new environmental data sources, and high priority activities that should be undertaken in this arena.
Problems: Publication was delayed from the original December plan due to late submission of final papers.
Key Contact: George Boehlert (831-648-8515)