Protected Species Assessment Workshop (PSAW) IV

The Office of Science and Technology (F/ST) is sponsoring the Fourth National Protected Species Assessment Workshop (PSAW IV). Due to travel restrictions, the PSAW IV steering committee has decided to move forward with the first ever fully virtual PSAW.

The goal of PSAW is to help share the latest advances, challenges, and solutions in protected species science and foster collaboration among scientists from different offices and programs within NOAA Fisheries and collaborators. PSAW supports a culture of open science that increases innovative processes that deliver critical science to managers so they can implement adaptive management strategies. Assessments of all protected species are relevant to PSAW.

When: The virtual workshop will take place Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, August 14 - September 11, 2025. Main sessions will be held on Thursdays from 2-4pm (EST), and training sessions will take place on Tuesday afternoons (subject and times TBD). All sessions will be available via WebEx.

Agenda: The meeting agenda is in development and will be posted once abstracts have been submitted and reviewed. The workshop will include oral and speed presentations with interactive discussions. Continue to check the website for updates to the workshop agenda.

For this workshop, we are specifically seeking presentations that address the topics below. Exact session dates TBD.

1. Detecting and Monitoring Range or Population Shifts

Co-Chairs: Diana Dishman (WCRO), Meghan Gahm (OPR)

Changes in environmental conditions are likely to drive changes to protected species’ ranges, compared to their historical ranges. This session focuses on efforts to identify and measure range and population shifts, including how to quantitatively determine if a range shift has occurred at a population level. At what scale do changes in individual animal movements constitute a possible range shift? How can we monitor these changes to predict likely habitat occupancy in the future?  

We invite presentations that focus on challenges in identifying temporal or spatial shifts for populations, stocks, DPSs, or other management units. Approaches to detecting, confirming, and monitoring species presence in new areas, as well as absence in parts of historic ranges, are welcome. What data (types, amounts, duration, quality, etc.) are sufficient to determine range/population retreat from previous range boundaries, and what criteria indicate persistent range and population shifts? Examples where these shifts could lead to new overlap of protected species and management conflicts (through competition, predation, or displacement) would also be relevant to this session.

2. Advanced Technology/Platforms in Protected Species Assessments, Conservation, and Management 

Co-Chairs: Héloïse Frouin-Mouy (NEFSC), Tara Trinko Lake (NEFSC)

Conservation scientists and managers are often successful in creating innovative solutions to protected species conservation problems by inventing, building or repurposing technology and analytical tools. This session will highlight emerging and advanced technologies or platforms that support research, assessment, and management of protected species. Managers rely on the most up-to-date data on protected species (e.g., presence/absence, abundance, distribution, behavior, etc.) to make informed decisions. As a result, to meet these adaptive management needs, research efforts at NOAA Fisheries and across NOAA are increasingly  leveraging innovative technologies and platforms that enhance the speed and efficiency of data collection and analysis. Examples include camera systems, uncrewed aircraft (UxS, drones), remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles (ROVs,AUVs), passive and active acoustic technologies, machine learning, thermal imaging, remote sensing, instrument/tagging platforms, and decision support tools, among others. This session underscores the critical role of technological innovation for protected species research and conservation. 

3. Protected Species Bycatch 

Co-Chairs: Melissa Snover (PIRO), Diana Dishman (WCRO) 

There are shared challenges in measuring and predicting the impacts of bycatch, including estimating levels of unobserved (cryptic) bycatch and post-interaction mortality rates for a range of protected species. This information is critical for tracking incidental take associated with specific fisheries, as well as updating marine mammal Stock Assessment Reports and other inputs needed to predict, monitor, and manage fisheries bycatch risk. Presentations across a range of topics related to incidental impacts to protected species from fisheries activities are welcome, including:

• How bycatch is incorporated into protected species assessments;
• Tools the Fisheries regions and Centers use to help monitor and avoid bycatch;
• Estimating unobserved (cryptic) bycatch and post-interaction mortality rates; and
• Predicting or managing for changing fisheries risks over time.

We welcome presentations that highlight region and center approaches on how to address these challenges. This session will include a panel discussion of analytical approaches to predict, monitor, and avoid bycatch, as well as the appropriate uses and limitations of those approaches. 

4. Approaches for Protected Species Abundance/Distribution Modeling and Data Integration

Co-Chairs: Devin Johnson (PIFSC), Jeff Moore (SWFSC)

There has been substantial advancement in species distribution models such as beyond standard generalized additive model approaches (e.g., machine learning approaches, exploring forecasting and dealing with trends, integrating passive acoustic monitoring or tag data into movement and habitat models, and climate and ensemble models, etc.) that form the basis of many of our spatial planning risk assessment and planning efforts. This session focuses on new/updated/integrated approaches for spatial distribution models, and includes related talks on applications of those tools for risk assessment, spatial management, and potentially integration of results into Stock Assessment Reports.

Special Session: The National Protected Species Toolbox Initiative and the Fisheries Integrated Toolbox

Co-Chairs: Erin McMichael (OST), Kathryn Doering (OST)

The National Protected Species Toolbox initiative (NPST) supports NOAA Fisheries efforts to create, evaluate, and disseminate novel analytical products and applications to improve protected species assessments in support of species conservation and recovery. The initiative has enhanced partnerships and coordination among science and management officials by jointly identifying regional and national research priorities; fostered scientific innovation and excellence through supporting collaborative and interdisciplinary projects; and developed novel techniques to assess impacts on protected species populations from ecosystem change, human activities, as well as cumulative and aggregated stressors. To date, NPST has supported 39 projects and led to 52 scientific publications (to date), countless presentations at scientific meetings, numerous reports and tech memos, theses, dissertations, R packages, GitHub repositories, GUI interfaces, interactive maps and other websites. Many of these tools are openly accessible through the NOAA Fisheries Integrated Toolbox (FIT). This session focuses on tools and applications developed through this initiative, especially those that are applicable across regions, taxa, and/or species.  

Abstract Submission: General abstract submission is now open. If you are interested in presenting, please submit your abstract(s) by June 9, 2025. Abstracts should include a short title, list of authors and affiliations, preference for either a 10-15 minute oral presentation or 4-5 minute speed presentation, and a description that is no more than 250 words long. Please note that speed presentations are primarily reserved for students, scholars, and fellows. Abstracts should clearly state how the presentation addresses the chosen session theme. We anticipate distributing abstract acceptance/confirmations on June 20, 2025.

Training Sessions: Training sessions are in development. Check back for more information.

Steering Committee: If you have questions, please contact Erin McMichael (erin.mcmichael@noaa.gov) or your local Steering Committee member:

• Erin McMichael, Lead Workshop Coordinator, F/ST 
• Meghan Gahm, OPR 
• Tara Trinko Lake, NEFSC
• Heloise Frouin-Mouy, SEFSC
• Kara Shervanick, SERO
• Jeff Moore, SWFSC  
• Diana Dishman, WCRO
• Lukas DeFilippo, AFSC
• Devin Johnson, PIFSC 
• Melissa Snover, PIRO