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We write to bring your attention to NMFS’ recently released draft rule on confidential fisheries data and information. The rule will be open for comment for 45 days, until April 25, 2024.
NMFS’ Fisheries Information System (FIS) program has been a constant driver of deliberate and strategic progress. Because FIS focuses on information needs identified by NMFS staff and data partners, people and organizations outside that network may not know about the program and its positive impacts. From the Net Gains’ Alliance’s perspective, FIS is central to the data modernization improvements of the last decade. As NGA wraps up this phase of our work, we’re writing this love letter to FIS to help others learn from their example and share their stories of how FIS has improved their work.
Since the Net Gains Alliance began our work in 2017, we’ve called for implementation of unique trip identifiers (UTIDs) as a way to quickly and reliably integrate commercial fishing data. Ideally, unique trip identifiers are machine-generated at the first point of data collection and automatically propagated to link all of the information generated by a trip such as trip reports, dealer reports, observer information, and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) tracks.
As a business owner, authoritative and reliable industry data helps me plan my operations and recruit partners to build a successful business. Banks and investors can easily find independent information about seasonal trends, consumer demand, and market dynamics. USDA’s frequent, detailed, and public reporting reduces investors’ time and effort for due diligence, which helps incentivize investments. USDA data also drives the development of products like crop insurance and informs long-term purchase contracts. Sharing this data supports U.S. agriculture in a global marketplace.
The ocean is a deeply connected ecological system. Ocean communities and businesses are also tightly linked, with supply chains connecting boats far offshore to inland processing plants to buyers thousands of miles away. Just as fish and seafood products flow easily from place to place, so does the data about those fish–or at least it should.
The Net Gains Alliance appreciates the opportunity to comment on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding potential changes to the implementing guidelines for National Standards, 4, 8, and 9 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (NS guidelines).
Spatial information about economically and ecologically important fishing areas is critical to maintaining sustainable fisheries in a changing world. Fishing is one of many activities competing for ocean space. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) collects, provides, and uses spatial tracking data collected from commercial fishing vessels through Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS). However, VMS data are difficult to access and underutilized as a result. If VMS data products were more widely available, they could provide valuable insights for management, conservation, business analytics, and science. The Net Gains Alliance recently released a set of recommendations and actionable steps the National Marine Fisheries Service could take to improve the findability and accessibility of VMS data products.
Despite the importance of data to NMFS’ mission, the agency does not publicly report on the state of its data infrastructure - the people, processes, policies, and products that enable NMFS to turn information into action. The Net Gains Alliance believes a critical part of supporting fisheries and ocean sustainability is making data infrastructure visible so it can be invested in and improved. This report assesses NMFS on 15 data modernization metrics, using information gathered through June 30, 2023. Of the 13 metrics we could evaluate, four are stalled, five are in progress, and four have been partially or fully achieved.
As the oceans become busier and climate change upends our expectations of stability, information about where and when fishing happens is vitally important. Location data is critical to achieving NMFS’ fisheries conservation and management mission and for planning for a sustainable ocean future. However, there is limited spatial information on fishing areas to support science, management, and business; and data products that do exist are difficult to find and access. NMFS should take proactive steps to improve the availability of spatial data about fisheries. In addition, managing data as an asset—a commitment of NOAA’s Data Strategy–depends on making data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.
It is a universally acknowledged truth that long-term sustainability in American and global fisheries is the only path to success for fishermen, scientists, environmentalists, regulators, policy makers, and everyday enthusiasts. Navigating the turbulent waters to achieve that sustainability is where the questions come in.
At about 5:00 am fishers Jose Chaar and Papote Santana, like nearly all of the small-scale commercial operators that make up 90% of the world's fishers, depart from the dock to search for fish they can catch and sell locally. As they have done for years, Jose and Papote spend his days on the ocean off the coast of Puerto Rico looking for tuna and swordfish to support themselves and their families.
Despite the importance of data to NMFS’ mission, the agency does not publicly report on the state of its data infrastructure - the people, processes, policies, and products that enable NMFS to turn information into action. The Net Gains Alliance believes a critical part of supporting fisheries and ocean sustainability is making data infrastructure visible so it can be invested in and improved.
As a film storyteller, I have had the privilege of working with hundreds of incredible companies, broadcasters, NGOs, governments, and nonprofits using their gifts and influence to inspire positive behaviour shifts. One of the firms that I am inspired by is Council Fire, a global management consultancy and Certified B Corporation that helps purpose-driven organizations thrive by creating lasting economic, social, and environmental value.
With this technical memorandum, NOAA Fisheries is laying out its commitment to better, faster, and more effective data to support sustainable fisheries management in the United States. Over the last four years, the Net Gains Alliance has supported a range of projects to demonstrate the value of improving fisheries data systems. We’re delighted to see the agency lay out a realistic work plan that invests in people, products, processes, and policies. By treating fisheries and ocean data as a strategic asset, NOAA Fisheries can better fulfill its stewardship role for America’s oceans and collaborate with the wider fisheries community. This will, in turn, make fisheries and oceans data a valuable asset for fishermen and other ocean users.
The Net Gains Alliance (NGA) has announced that it is providing funding for at least eight new projects that will, collectively, further spur the modernization of America’s fisheries information system, an effort viewed as critical by industry and fisheries managers alike for further improving overall management and enhancing environmental, social and economic performance.
In our consumer lives, we expect technology to be easy, accessible, and satisfying. Billions of dollars and millions of hours have gone into business websites and apps that make it feel like they were designed just for us - seamlessly answering our questions, filling in information, and delivering just the product we want when we want it. Government tech has not always kept up with those expectations. Without the budgets and staff of the private sector, and with a mandate to serve everyone (including people with dial-up modems and flip phones), user experience can fall behind just keeping up with day-to-day management tasks.
It has been just over twenty years since the first electronic monitoring (EM) trial was implemented in a British Columbia crab fishery in 1999. A few years later a pilot to monitor halibut effort in an Alaska longline fishery was initiated. The buzz caught on and in 2003 the first EM pilot launched in New Zealand, to monitor seabird interactions with gill nets. Two more years down the road and the first trial geared towards monitoring bycatch was launched in Australia. Fast forward nearly two decades and there are now tons of pilots and full-scale electronic monitoring - and reporting - (EMR) programs in various stages of operation around the world, with these countries still very much at the forefront of progress.
