Sometimes during regular fishing operations, seabirds accidentally get caught in fishing gear, resulting in injury or death. While this occurrence (also known as bycatch) is unfortunate, it does provide an opportunity to monitor seabird population characteristics and trends over time. Observers deployed by the North Pacific, Pacific Islands and At-Sea Hake Observer Programs collect […]
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is prohibiting directed fishing for species that comprise the deep-water species fishery by vessels using trawl gear in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), effective 1200 hours, Alaska local time (A.l.t.), March 26, 2019, through 1200 hours, A.l.t., April 1, 2019, according to James W. Balsiger, Administrator, Alaska Region, […]
[dropcap][/dropcap]In the 1990s, the endangered status of the short-tailed albatross catalyzed efforts to reduce the number of birds accidentally killed as bycatch in Alaska, home to the country’s biggest fisheries. Marine fisheries scientist Ed Melvin, at Washington Sea Grant at the University of Washington, and research associate Kim Dietrich, an independent contractor, were at the […]
Government scientists, academia, and fishermen are working together to develop innovative monitoring tools to identify and measure fish from digital images. This technology could revolutionize the way fisheries data are collected. Machine vision technology advances electronic monitoring systems on fishing vessels, which use cameras to collect video of commercial catches. With this technology, scientists are […]