WELCOME TO BILL'S CORNER!May, 2005 | (archive)Dear Constituents, NOAA Fisheries Service is well known as a regulatory agency that manages domestic fishing fleets. What many don’t know is that science and research is actually our core mission and the foundation of our fisheries management and protected species conservation programs. Our research and science programs provide fisheries managers with information that is essential for making wise decisions as they work to conserve fishery populations and protect marine ecosystems. Our science is at the forefront internationally, paving the way for the newest, most modern methods for fisheries data collection, assessment, and monitoring. One way we enhance our scientific capabilities is by partnering with fishermen on specific research projects – something NOAA has been doing since the 1940s. In 1999, we launched an official cooperative research program, with seed money of $2 million that has grown to $11 million this year. Through our cooperative research program, we have worked with dozens of fishermen on hundreds of projects, spending almost $70 million since the program’s inception in 1999. The majority of cooperative research funding supports fishery stock assessments, but we have a wide range of projects that benefit from cooperative research. For example, through conservation engineering, we’ve worked with fishermen to develop gear that is more selective in catching only the target species, allowing our fisheries to reduce bycatch and become more eco-friendly. We have developed tagging projects that help us identify species and learn more about their life history, biology, important habitats and spawning sites. Through cooperative research, NOAA scientists are able to leverage the resources and skill of fishermen to answer our research questions. In the process, we are able to build relationships and trust with fishing communities – not only trust in the validity of our science, but also trust in our agency and in our management decisions. Cooperative research helps increase the precision of our science, improves our credibility, and helps us collect more and better data at a lower cost. Through this program, fishermen have the opportunity to help determine research needs and design research projects. One recent cooperative research project I am particularly proud of is the
three-year study we conducted in the Grand Banks with our pelagic longline
fleet. This study was designed to find out how we could reduce turtle catches
in longline gear. Working with fishermen on 13 longline vessels, NOAA scientists
and gear development specialists successfully developed technologies and
minor changes the longline fleet could make to avoid most sea turtles and
safely release the ones caught. We wrapped up this study about a year ago
and have been able to apply the research to our Atlantic and Pacific fleets
to re-open fishing grounds once closed to them because of interactions with
sea turtles. Now we are on the offensive internationally to convince other
longlining countries to use the new techniques and to train them in how to
do it. On a related note, another NOAA Fisheries Service scientist based in Hawaii has been hard at work to debunk a popular myth about the extent of the world’s overfishing problems. I’m sure you have heard the popular 90 percent figure used by many – including the news media – to characterize global decline of fish populations. Back in May 2003 the journal Nature published a paper by Ransom Myers and Boris Worm with startling conclusions that only 10 percent of the large fish are left in the world’s oceans. Myers and Worm blamed the decline on the rapid expansion of industrialized fishing since the 1950s. However, the April 28, 2005, issue of Nature featured an article that refutes Myers and Worm’s assertion. Co-authored by NOAA Fisheries Service scientist, Dr. Pierre Kleiber, the newest information we have suggests that the scientific methods used in the 2003 study were fundamentally flawed, resulting in exaggerated conclusions. As an aside, I’d like to wish a heartfelt retirement congratulations to my colleague and friend, Dr. Michael Sissenwine. Mike has been my director of scientific programs at headquarters since 2003, having previously directed the science programs in our northeast fisheries science center. During his distinguished 30-year career as a fisheries scientist, Mike has been a leader in developing the concept of ecosystem-based approaches to fisheries management. His work is internationally renowned, and we have been lucky to have him among our ranks at NOAA. Congratulations and good luck Mike! I am just as sad this month to bid farewell to Laurie Allen, who has been part of the NOAA family for 16 years. Laurie helped shape the early years of my tenure as director of NOAA Fisheries Service as my senior policy advisory, and I truly respect and admire her dedication to conservation of the oceans, particularly the whales, dolphins, sea lions, and turtles. In 2003, she took on the enormous challenge of leading the agency’s mission to restore critically endangered sea turtles and marine mammals. Thank you, Laurie, for your contributions to NOAA Fisheries Service over the past 16 years and your outstanding leadership. We will miss you! Finally, NOAA has just announced that it is accepting nominations until June 8th for new members of the NOAA Science Advisory Board. The board is a federal advisory board and so membership must be balanced, both ideologically and geographically. The Board helps ensure that NOAA science programs are of the highest quality and provide optimal support to resource management, and environmental assessment and prediction. If you would like to nominate someone to serve on the board, visit the link provided below and follow the instructions.  Bill Hogarth Director, National Marine Fisheries Service References NOAA Fisheries Service, Cooperative Research Program Longline/Sea Turtle Grand Banks Cooperative Research Project Scientists Refute Myers and Worm’s 90% Study
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