Fish counts in region questioned

By Beth Daley a Nd Gareth Cook, Boston Globe 9/12/2002

PROVIDENCE - Faulty equipment on a federal research boat may have led to mistakes in counting the fish population off New England, officials said yesterday, raising questions about the accuracy of the numbers used to set restrictions on the region's fishermen.

Scientists measure fish stocks in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank by towing a net behind a boat and counting what they catch. But last week, National Marine Fisheries Service officials discovered that the net lines on their research boat had been mismatched since February 2000 - a problem that may have reduced the boat's catch and given an overly dire picture of the fish population.

''We are concerned, and not very happy about finding this problem,''Michael Sissenwine, head of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, said at a meeting of the New England Fishery Management Council yesterday. ''But we just don't know what it means yet.''

The discovery comes at a key time for New England's fishing fleet. A federal judge has ordered fishing in the region cut by as much as two-thirds by August 2003, a move that could all but wipe out many of the region's independent fishermen. The restrictions are based, in part, on survey data from the boat. If the surveys were badly flawed, it could add weight to a growing effort to prevent the restrictions from taking hold.

The announcement immediately brought angry responses from fishermen, some of whom have been complaining about scientists' fish counting methods for years. Yesterday gave them their first concrete evidence something might be awry.

''There are certain precepts in basic high school chemistry, and one of them is you calibrate equipment,'' said Barbara Stevenson, a council member from Maine who owns a fishing boat. ''It calls into question all of [the scientists'] work so far. We don't know what else could be wrong.''

The census has long been touted as the most reliable tool in counting fish, using the same equipment year after year to get a statistically valid snapshot of the populations.

The federal research boat Albatross IV lets out its fishing net by
releasing calibrated cables from spools at the back of the vessel, one on the left side and one on the right. But researchers found that one of the cables was calibrated incorrectly, allowing unequal amounts of cable to be released in the water - and possibly leading to an off-kilter net.

The mistake was initially spotted by Cape Cod fisherman Matt Stommel, who saw the boat's cables being calibrated on a wharf in February 2000. Instead of marking various lengths on the two cables as they lay side by side, a contractor marked them separately and incorrectly.

Yesterday, Stommel said he first told regulators about the problem two years ago, but nothing was done. Frustrated last February, he asked federal regulators to check the wire before their important spring survey began, but they said there was not enough money. Stommel says he offered to pay the cost himself, but regulators said the cable was fine and they would check it in June.

''They had the opportunity to [look at this] before,'' said Stommel, who said he wanted the judge to be informed of any errors before she issued new fishing rules this past spring. ''This problem could have been discovered.''

Regulators were unclear yesterday why it took until last Tuesday to discover there could be as much as 6 feet of difference between the lines in 300 meters of cable. Such differences could alter the way the net opens at various depths, affecting the catch of cod and other species.

The boat made 1,700 tows in New England before researchers realized the mistake. The Albatross is the main boat used to survey the region's ground fish.

Scientists from the National Marine Fisheries Service said yesterday that they did not know how much the mistake affected the fish census, but did not believe the difference would be large. They've compared the data to Canadian and historical data and said it did not stand out as greatly different.

''It's not like we saw a big change from previous years,'' said Steve Murawski, chief of population dynamics for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

In the next week, officials will be using video from an underwater camera to compare tows using mismatched lines and matched ones. ''There is no obvious smoking gun. But we need to know what happened,'' said Murawski.

Some fishermen at yesterday's meeting immediately called for all new fishing regulations to be put on hold until the extent of the error can be determined. Instead, the council voted to inform US District Judge Gladys Kessler, who ordered new restrictions in a decision last December.

If the data are thrown out, fishermen say, scientists will be using data at least three years old.

The data ''is being used to make very serious decisions about people's lives,'' said Anthony Fernandes, a council member from Maine. ''What bothers me the most is it went on for two years.''

I'm no expert but 6 feet in 300 meters Almost 1000 feet (.6%) , doesn't seem too bad. Again , I'm no expert at deep net trolling but I doubt it would change the picture too much. I could be wrong.

I agree with SH, does not seem to be a significant factor, though I'm not an expert either.

The fact remains that the stocks are still being overfished.

Bad research or not!!!!

I have never been able to figure why the Gov't goes and blows our money on their own boat when for peanuts in comparison they could put the scientist aboard a professional fishermans boat and take catch samples from guys that know how to fish.
The NOAA Boats I have observed over the years are mostly all mis rigged, mis matched and mostly just screwed up abortions when it comes to the fishing gear.
If you can picture in your mind an otter trawl with the proper size doors rigged right compared to a miss matched set of towing wires then you will know why their numbers are screwed up.
If the net isn't set right it will not fish right and the numbers will not be right and the poor fisherman gets screwed again and again and still!

I grew up in a commercial fishing family. I spent almost 12 years on the deck and in the wheelhouse on draggers. A difference of 2 feet is enough to unbalance the net. The slightest droop can allow numerous fish to be missed. The longer the tow the more fish escape. Worst of all is the chance that the net will twist and foul. An offset of 6 feet is very significant. especially when dealing with people's livelyhoods.

I'm kind of sad to say that this issue has been the root of a sad little pi$$ing contest in Rhody between some of the commercial set and some of the management types & scientists. The gist of the problem is the apparent distrust and I told you so attitudes, in this case resulting from the likely bad trawl data from the NOAA ship Albatross (and I know a person or 2 that worked on it and they do try to do the right thing).

I won't put the entire conversation thread on (although I am tempted). But I will add a mild attempt at humor from Mark Gibson from the RIDFW... There is a ring of truth in this too:Headline News

NMFS Science bad, bad, bad! Skewed net leads to skewed data, too few fish caught in surveys. Arrogant scientists refused advice from commercial fishermen for years.

Woods Hole, MA- Dr. Knut Knowitall, Chief of NMFS stock assessments, admitted yesterday that an incorrectly measured cable may have reduced the catchability of fish in government trawl surveys. In response, he has ordered staff scientists to mount sophisticated monitoring equipment on the survey gear to determine the extent of the bias that may have been introduced into stock assessment results. When interviewed about the matter, commercial fishermen Carl Catchthemall said, "I always knew that stupid white boat couldn't fish. They come along and throw the damn nets where there aint no fish, just cause it's random. They wouldn't last two weeks in this business" Litigious conservation groups refused comment but Rep. Johnny Industryfriendcomelately, locked in a fierce reelection battle, pledged to investigate and reform NMFS.

Holy Cow! Too few fish caught? Just look at the latest biased results. More scup and fluke caught in 2002 than ever before. Striped bass recovered from 1980's collapse. Winter flounder in SNE at medium abundance. Groundfish on Georges steadily rebuilding. If more should have been caught, that means.....oh noooo......the ocean can hold more fish than NMFS thought!
Rebuilding targets will have to be adjusted upwards again and rebuilding timetables extended. Good thing this was caught early on before we relaxed regulations too soon.

Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.

Mark Gibson- RIDFW

Update:

Fishermen await new net results

Scientists will try to save 21/2 years of population data in research cruise next month.
By <A HREF="mailto:dfraser@capecodonline.com">DOUG FRASER</A> STAFF WRITER WOODS HOLE :

How do you fix 21/2 years of potentially bad data in just three
days?It's a question that's on fishermen's lips from the mid-Atlantic to Maine.The National Marine Fisheries Service hopes to get an answer to that question later this month when its research vessel Albatross IV takes to the seas.Scientists use the vessel to tow a net in the Atlantic Ocean to figure out fish populations and determine whether certain species are over-fished.

But it turns out the net the scientists were using may have been towed at an angle, which would cause it to catch less fish. If this is so, the scientists' low estimates of fish populations are inaccurate.Those who work in the billion-dollar New England fishing industry - especially the 1,400 boat owners who catch cod, haddock and flounder - are holding their breath and their tempers, as scientists try to figure out how much the improperly
rigged net may have skewed fish population data. Information from these surveys has been a driving force behind increasingly strict fishing regulations."This shows how critical it is to know what you're doing out there," said Jim Kendall of the Trawler Survival Fund, an industry-funded fishermen's association, representing fish draggers and scallopers. Kendall is also a New England Fishery Management Council member."When we make a
mistake, it only affects us, but when something like the Albatross goes out and messes up, that affects the livelihood of everyone in the industry," Kendall said.Kendall said he doesn't think any one fishermen's association has the money to consider litigation, but he believes there might be a class-action lawsuit if fishermen are not satisfied with the fix the NMFS is proposing.

Observation cruise
From Sept. 25 to 27, weather permitting, the fisheries Service will take a select group of fishermen out on the Albatross IV to watch scientists and the crew videotape the net as it tows underwater. A second research vessel will also conduct fishing tows beside the Albatross to compare catches. Scientists are hoping they will be able to quantify the impact of using tow wires of unequal length and apply that to 21/2 years of data used to project the
population of commercial fish stocks. The tow wires are attached to large doors on either side of the net opening that spread the mouth of the net wide. Think of a toy parachute towed through air with snarled lines and you get one possible scenario.The Albatross does spring and fall survey trips, towing the net at 300 to 400 randomly selected spots in the ocean from Cape Hatteras to Maine.These surveys conducted by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole began in 1963 and are the longest continuous fishing series in the world. They are intended as an index, to show changes both from year to year and relative to the whole series. Any change of equipment must be calibrated to ensure consistency.The fishing survey is an integral part of
the stock assessment process, which is in turn used to gauge the
effectiveness of regulations on the health of fish stocks. Those regulations have become increasingly stringent in order to meet a federally-mandated fish population rebuilding plan, which calls for most stocks to be rebuilt by 2009.

Congressional input
On Tuesday, U.S. Sens. Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry along with U.S. Reps. William Delahunt, Barney Frank and John F. Tierney sent a joint letter to Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans urging him to establish a Northeast science task force that includes fishery managers, scientists and fishermen to give advice on how these developments affect the goals scientists have set
for rebuilding New England's fish stocks.They also urged Evans to immediately notify U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler if the marine fisheries service needs an extension on a court-imposed August 2003 deadline for creating a plan to reduce over-fishing and wasteful discarding of unwanted fish. That deadline was imposed last spring when Kessler ruled in favor of five environmental organizations that sued the fisheries service.The New England Fisheries Management Council is working on a plan that might include cuts in fishing days of up 63 percent in order to comply with Kessler's decision.What galls fishermen is that making sure the tow lines are equal in length is so fundamental to their job, they wonder what else could be skewed by poor fishing practices on the scientific vessel."Measuring the tow wires
is like putting on your shoes. What about checking the backstraps, the top and bottom lags, the head rope?" said Bud Fernandes, a Portsmouth, N.H., fisherman and New England Fishery Management Council member."You assume that since the science is so rigorous in its controls that these kinds of things
would not be overlooked, but when you find out the two years they didn't check the tow lines, that's alarming," he said.
Net concerns Fernandes is one of six fishermen scheduled to be an observer on the Albatross next week. He said the effect of unequal tow lines on the net is magnified by the fact the Albatross crew uses a smaller net than those used on commercial vessels. In addition, he said, even a foot difference between the two lines is a big deal. Fishery service scientists said when they towed the net with 300 meters of line, one was 6 feet longer than the other. But when they towed the net with 900 meters of line, one line was 12 feet longer than the other. This could have caused the net to be pulled at an angle, presenting less of a net opening to catch fish.Fernandes said he also plans to watch the Albatross crew at work and check on how the ship's other fishing
gear is maintained.David Goethel, a Hampton, N.H., fisherman described by others as a "tech head" when it comes to nets, turned down an offer to go on the trip. But he will sit on a panel of fishermen, environmentalists, fishery scientists and managers who will review the data from next week's cruise. The panel is expected to meet Oct. 2 and 3 most likely in Woods Hole to review
the cruise data.Unlike some other fishermen, Goethel said he is taking a wait-and-see attitude on the potential impact of the bad gear.What he did say was that he noticed that a difference of 6 feet between his own tow lines caused his net to lose one-third of the fish it would normally catch. Goethel said that fishermen can usually check on whether something is wrong with a net by comparing the size of their catch to that of the boat fishing next to
them. But a research boat usually fishes by itself, something fishermen hope will be changed by instituting a program to have a commercial fish trawler occasionally tow beside the research vessel.Still, Goethel said there must have been other signs that could have indicated to the Albatross crew something was wrong. He said fishermen always check their nets each time they haul them out of the water. When one side of the net is dirty and the other clean, or when half the net's metallic frame is shiny and other is dull that can be an indication that only half the net is scraping the ocean bottom.Even the age of the gear needs to be taken into account, Goethel said, as older netting tends to stretch and catch less fish."All this stuff needs to be put on a schedule for replacement," he said. "It costs a great deal of money to run (the Albatross IV), and they do have the attitude that time is money, but there are an assortment of measurements that need to be taken and formulas that need to be run to verify that your gear is still working," Goethel said.Fishery service officials are already contemplating a nationwide review of its fishing practices while doing survey work, he said."The outcome from all this can't be anything but positive," said Goethel, who said the ultimate result would be a better protocol for how research crews work and maintain their gear.