Bycatch in net fisheries is recognized as a major source of mortality for many marine species, including seabirds. Few mitigation solutions, however, have been identified. We assessed the effectiveness of illuminating fishing nets with green light emitting diodes (LEDs) to reduce the incidental capture of seabirds. Experiments were conducted in the demersal, setnet fishery of Constante, Peru and compared 114 pairs of control and illuminated nets. We observed captures of a total of 49 seabirds (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii and Sula variegata), with 39 caught in control nets and 10 caught in illuminated nets. Illuminated nets had a statistically significant 73.5% decline in seabird interactions when compared with non-illuminated nets. This study showed that net illumination reduces seabird bycatch. In addition, we deployed light emitting diodes (LEDs) - a visual cue - on the floatlines of paired gillnets (control vs illuminated net) during 864 fishing sets on small-scale vessels departing from three Peruvian ports between 2015 and 2018. Standardized bycatch probability for sea turtles and cetaceans as well as standardized catch per unit effort (CPUE) of target species were analysed for illuminated and control nets using a generalised linear mixed-effects model (GLMM). For illuminated nets, bycatch probability was reduced by up to 80% for sea turtles and small cetaceans in comparison to non-illuminated, control nets. Target species CPUE was not negatively affected by the presence of LEDs. These studies highlight the efficacy of net illumination as a multi-taxa BRT for small-scale gillnet fisheries in Peru. These results are promising given the global ubiquity of small-scale net fisheries, the relatively low cost of LEDs and the current lack of alternate solutions to bycatch.

These data arise from a field test of electronic monitoring (EM) of vessels participating in the Pacific halibut fishery off Alaska. A side-by-side comparison was made of the hook-specific catch data reocrded by fishery observers and EM video reviewers. There are two main components of this data: the data collected by observers and the data recorded by video reviewers (electronic monitoring). The observer data are stored in an oracle database. The hook-specific EM data have been matched to the obsever data (individual hook to individual hook) and are stored in an MS Access Database.

Bycatch in net fisheries is recognized as a major source of mortality for many marine species, including sea turtles, sharks and other elasmobranchs, seabirds, and marine mammals. Few mitigation solutions, however, have been identified. We assessed the effectiveness of different sensory based bycatch reduction technologies such as illuminating fishing nets withlight emitting diodes (LEDs) of different wavelengths and using low frequency acoustic alert device to reduce the incidental capture of sea turtles, sharks, seabirds, marine mammals, and juvenile fish. In addition, we examined the effects on target fish catch rates. Experiments were conducted in the demersal, setnet fishery of Bahia de los Angeles and compared pairs of control and experimental nets. With these study showing that various BRTs reduce sea turtle and elasmobranch bycatch (such as sharks and guitarfish), potential new technologies can be used to reduce multi-taxa bycatch . This finding has broad implications for bycatch mitigation in net fisheries given the global ubiquity of net fisheries and the current paucity of bycatch mitigation solutions.

Herring Fishery Electronic Monitoring (EM) Project Data (EMREVIEW) contains data collected on commercial fishing vessels by em systems from 2016 - 2017. The data include detailed effort information as well as bycatch of finfish and protected species. Data is collected by trained video and gps sensors then video is video and data is recorded by trained reviewers a for scientific and fisheries management purposes.

Vessel, gear and biological data collected by fishery observers from the Gulf of Mexico commerical reef fish fishery.

Fishery regulators and industry require near real time fishery statistics formatted appropriately for their software to record and process. This project is the result of the extract, transform, and load processes that provide that utility to these users.

Compilation of the data that go into the annual marine mammal stock assessment reports, including abundance and bycatch estimates, PBR calculations, bibliographic references, update history, and serious injury determinations.

The Northeast Fisheries Observer Database System (OBDBS) contains data collected on commercial fishing vessels by observers from 1989 - present and at-sea monitors from 2010 - present. The data include detailed gear, effort, catch, bycatch of finfish and protected species as well as biological samples of priority and protected species. Data is collected by trained fishery observers and at-sea monitors for scientific and fisheries management purposes.

Observer data span more than two decades and multiple database development interations. To facilitate status of stocks authors and other users of these records, a data set separate from the OLAP was created which reformats and repackages vetted (debriefed) observer data from NORPAC into a common structure, format, and syntax. The granularity of current production data is compromised, however for the purposes of longitudinal research the data set is internally consistant, and spans the developmental boundaries.

The NOAA/NEFSC Study fleets are a subset of fishing vessels from which high quality, self-reported data on fishing effort, area fished, gear characteristics, catch, and biological observations are collected. Participating vessels collect data within their permitted fisheries using normal commercial fishing operations, and are selected to address specific research topics. Vessels collect data via electronic logbook (ELB) and submit the data to NMFS (refer to VERS system for details). The data collected by the vessel operators serve as the basis for ancillary data which are collected by Study Fleet staff and are usually associated with one or more targeted research objectives. The data collected from these vessels can be used to supplement the stock assessment process and are especially useful when catch data are limited.