Observer Program web page that lists the observer field manual and all current data collection forms that observers are required to take out to sea.

Observer Program web page that lists the observer field manual and all current data collection forms that observers are required to take out to sea.

Ryan Nichols (FBSAB LHP) collected this data set and it contains information on fish otoliths collected from previous research cruises and stored in Aiea Research Facility. He visually inspected each otolith vial to note the condition and how many pairs of otoliths were collected. When available he included the capture date, capture location, fish species, fish length (total length or fork length), fish weight and cruise information.

List of legacy data collection forms that observers used for data collection out at sea.

Catch and effort handline fishing data were collected by NOAA research vessel Townsend Cromwell (TC) in 1972 and from 1975 to 1981 in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Main Hawaiian Islands and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. NOAA research vessel Charles H. Gilbert (CHG) collected data in American Samoa in 1970.

Bottomfish handline operations were conducted by NOAA research vessel Townsend Cromwell from 1982 to 1994 in the Central and Western Pacific Ocean to determine distribution, abundance and composition of snappers and groupers and to collect biological data of those species. NOAA research vessel Oscar E Sette also conducted bottomfish handline operations during one cruise in 2007 and another cruise in 2009 in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Catch and effort data and fish length measurements were collected.

This data set contains gill net fishing data collected by the Hokusei Maru in 1981, 1982 and 1983, in waters around the main Hawaiian Islands. Length and weight of individual species were collected.

Fishing operations that focus on targeting bottomfish (mostly juvenile opakapaka) that are independent of a larger research vessel, i.e. the Oscar Elton Sette.

Station information was collected for each deployment of an Anchovy No. 2 Cobb Pelagic Trawl, a new small-mesh midwater trawl, on NOAA Research Vessel Townsend Cromwell Cruise TC 0032 (12 July - 4 October 1967). Data collected include date, location, trawl deployment data and environment data of location.

Accurate and precise stock assessments are predicated on accurate and precise estimates of life history parameters, abundance, and catch across the range of the stock. In its continued efforts to improve the data used in stock assessments, the NOAA Pacific islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) implemented a Bottomfish Fishery-Independent Survey in Hawaii (BFISH) in 2016. The BFISH survey utilizes two gear types, Cooperative Research hook-and-line fishing operations (CRF) and the Modular Optical Underwater Survey System (MOUSS). Survey sampling is conducted annually, typically in the fall, surrounding the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI), in accordance with a stratified-random sampling design. Under this design, the waters surrounding the MHI are gridded at 500 meter resolution. Each grid is given attributes of depth, slope, and seafloor hardness. Depth categories are Shallow (75-200 meters), Medium (200-300 meters) and Deep (300-400 meters). Slope categories are Low slope (0-10 degrees) and High (10-90 degrees). Seafloor categories are Hardbottom and Softbottom. Annual survey data are processed to produce relative and absolute abundance and biomass estimates for the Stock Assessment for the Main Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 Bottomfish Complex. This dataset contains information from BotCam deployments conducted during the 2011-2015 methods comparison study, which led to the operation BFISH survey.