Calling all undergraduate students! The NOAA Fisheries’ Inclusive Fisheries Internship Program (IN FISH) and Woods Hole Partnership Education Program (PEP) are now accepting applications for the summer of 2023. These are paid, 10-week internships that help build a diverse and inclusive workforce and provide students from underrepresented groups in marine and ocean sciences with practical experience in marine and environmental science. Applications for both programs are due February 10, 2023. What’s it like to participate in one of these internships? Meet last year’s IN FISH and PEP students and learn all about their research projects, internship experiences, and more! 

How do sea-run fish connect ecosystems? Scientists from our science center, our Greater Atlantic Regional Office, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center developed a conceptual model to investigate the ecological role of sea-run fish and the connections they make among different ecosystems. The goal of this work is to improve ecosystem services delivery, ecosystem resilience, and the productivity of the sea-run fish community.

Cooperative Research Branch field biologist Emma Fowler was recently out on the F/V Darana R for the fall bottom-trawl survey gear standardization study. In her blog about this work, she talks about having a tiny bit of FOMO—fear of missing out. She said catches before she went out included several thresher sharks and torpedo rays and sightings of humpback whales and bluefin tuna near the boat. But that feeling waned when the catches she processed included little treasures like puffed-up northern pufferfish, toothsome cunner, rock gunnels, and moonfish—a first for Emma!

Behold, the dark and lovely critters of the mesopelagic zone, or ocean twilight zone! Biological science technician Katie Rogers was aboard the NOAA Ship Henry B. Bigelow for our fall bottom trawl survey and she blogged about some of the fascinating and odd animals they caught in the ocean twilight zone—an area that’s about 200 to 1,000 meters deep.

Our Cooperative Research Branch will host two cooperative research summits in early 2023. These one-day summits will bring scientists, managers, fishermen, and industry representatives together to discuss their cooperative research projects, ways to enhance industry participation, best practices for applying project results to stock assessments and management, and funding opportunities. The summits will also help facilitate regional coordination and foster new partnerships. One summit will be held on January 31, in Newport News, Virginia, and the other will be held on February 15, in Providence, Rhode Island. Registration required. Deadline to register is December 7, 2022.

New Video Shines Light on Fishery Observers

What’s it like to be a fishery observer? How do people get into observing? What are some of the benefits? This new video, What Does It Take to Be a Fishery Observer in the Northeast?, features our region’s fishery observers answering these questions and more! Observers are a vital component of the fishery management process. They work with fishermen to collect information on catch and fishing operations. The data they collect help support sustainable fisheries and protected species recovery. Interested in becoming a fishery observer? Contact one of our approved monitoring service providers.

Partnership with the Coonamessett Farm Foundation

When the coverage target for groundfish monitoring increased from 40 percent to 99 percent at the start of the fishing year, we needed more trained and certified at-sea monitors. NOAA awarded a grant to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to support additional training. The commission contracted with Coonamessett Farm Foundation to partner with our science center, and to work closely with our staff to support trainings. Since the first training occurred in February, more have been scheduled through 2023. The goal is to train 140 monitors by the end of 2022. To become an at-sea monitor, please contact one of our approved providers.

Milford Aquaculture Seminar 

The 42nd Milford Aquaculture Seminar will be held January 9 to 11, 2023, in Shelton, Connecticut. More than 200 people participated in the 40th seminar in January 2020, including representatives from about 34 aquaculture businesses and more than 70 students. Since 1975, the seminar has been a forum for sharing the latest aquaculture science and technology among our Milford Lab scientists, aquaculture industry, scientific and academic communities, students, regulators, and the public. Early bird registration ends on December 6.

Latest Current Conditions Reports are Live

Current Conditions is a biannual report that uses data collected during seasonal scientific surveys and other data sources to help show changes and trends in the Northeast U.S. continental shelf ecosystem. The spring report focuses on the last half of 2021 and includes sections on temperature, fall thermal day transition, chlorophyll, and fish distribution. The fall report focuses on the first half of 2022 and includes sections on temperature, spring thermal day transition, chlorophyll, and fish distribution.

Predicting the Distribution of Fish and Invertebrates

Fish and invertebrates that live in the Northeast U.S. continental shelf ecosystem are responding to shifting climate conditions with changes in regional productivity and distribution. Species distribution modeling is an effective tool to study the environmental effects on the preferred habitat of a particular species. Our scientists used machine learning methods to construct distribution models for several commercially important species. Model maps show where each species is most likely to be found during the spring and fall seasons. They also show areas where species distribution is increasing or decreasing over time.

Reducing Sea Turtle Bycatch

All sea turtles in U.S. waters are listed under the Endangered Species Act. Some fisheries are a significant threat to them. That’s why we work with commercial fishermen and industry to design and conduct research on fishing gear modifications that help maintain target catch and reduce sea turtle bycatch. Our research has focused on gillnet, trawl, and scallop dredge gears. In a series of low-profile gillnet design trials, we were able to reduce bycatch by 68 percent. Because squid trawls can unintentionally catch sea turtles, we’re testing a new design that includes the addition of a cable grid inside the trawl. Our goal is to find out how the cable grid affects catch and bycatch rates, and how vessel size affects gear performance. Scallop dredges can also be a hazard to sea turtles. Our work on turtle deflector dredges was able to reduce sea turtle mortality by 36 percent compared to standard dredges. 

Our science center is committed to high-quality fishery-dependent data collection. There are numerous aspects to this commitment: vessel-trip reports, landings data, at-sea observers, electronic monitoring, study fleet-collected data, cooperative tagging, environmental sensors on fishing gear. This takes partnership between our staff and fishermen. To add to the message of partnership, Deputy Director Nicole Cabana and I started addressing our fishery observer training classes in January 2022. We stress four areas: the importance of observer data to sustainable fisheries, data accuracy and quality, partnering with captains and crew, and safety. Fishery-dependent data are critical to our mission and we’ll continue to emphasize the need for partnerships among scientists, fishermen, and many others to ensure data accuracy and quality.