Search Help Show/Hide Menu
Summary
Item Identification
Keywords
Physical Location
Data Set Info
Support Roles
Extents
Access Info
URLs
Data Quality
Data Management
Lineage
Acquisition Info
Child Items
Catalog Details

Summary

Short Citation
Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 2024: The SWFSC Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program, 1963-2021, https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/2327.
Full Citation Examples

DOI: https://doi.org/10.25923/3kcr-wd15

Abstract

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program (CBTP) is a conventional mark-recapture research venture between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists and the global recreational and commercial fishing community, with efforts focused in the Pacific Ocean. The CBTP has provided conventional analog tags to anglers around the world to tag billfish and other large pelagic species to collect distribution, abundance, movement, and morphometric data valuable in quantifying life history parameters used in management. The CBTP comprises the Billfish Tagging Program and the International Billfish Angler Survey. All three components require year-round operations to distribute tagging equipment, deliver and receive surveys, and process, store, and manage data.

Contact Information

Point of Contact
Nicole Nasby-Lucas
nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
858-334-2826

Metadata Contact
Nicole Nasby-Lucas
nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
858-334-2826

Extents

Geographic Area 1

East Boundary - North, Central, and South American Coastline

Time Frame 1
1963-01-01 - Present

Item Identification

Title: The SWFSC Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program, 1963-2021
Short Name: The SWFSC CBTP
Status: On Going
Creation Date: 2021
Abstract:

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program (CBTP) is a conventional mark-recapture research venture between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists and the global recreational and commercial fishing community, with efforts focused in the Pacific Ocean. The CBTP has provided conventional analog tags to anglers around the world to tag billfish and other large pelagic species to collect distribution, abundance, movement, and morphometric data valuable in quantifying life history parameters used in management. The CBTP comprises the Billfish Tagging Program and the International Billfish Angler Survey. All three components require year-round operations to distribute tagging equipment, deliver and receive surveys, and process, store, and manage data.

Notes:

The data reported to the SWFSC from constituents is voluntary and not verified at time of collection by NOAA staff or a credential scientific party, unless specifically indicated as “research” in the Billfish Database. As such, fish weights and lengths, fish condition, and fight time are largely estimated by the angler or captain. Although many location coordinates may be accurately sourced from Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment, all locations are treated as estimates. Blanks are treated as “No data”, as the number “0” is a valid code for some data fields. These data issues should be considered before interpreting any analyses based on SWFSC Cooperative Billfish Tagging data.

Supplemental Information:

For detailed information on the Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program, please refer to Heberer, L.N., Wraith, J., Kohin, S., Gu, Y., Nasby-Lucas, N.D., and Dewar, H. 2021. The NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program Operations and Database. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SWFSC-640 at https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/28449.

This document details the technical aspects of the CBTP as it operated upon discontinuation in 2021, including equipment acquisition, database structure, and operational design and execution. Given the CBTP protocols could serve as a template for current or future conventional mark-recapture programs, recommendations are also provided to improve upon current protocols. This document serves as the official reference for the program and provides detailed metadata for the historical dataset available to the public.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.25923/3kcr-wd15
DOI Registration Authority: NOAA
DOI Issue Date: 2021-02-26

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None angler survey
None billfish
None black marlin
None blue marlin
None recreational anglers
None sailfish
None shortbill spearfish
None striped marlin
None swordfish

Spatial Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None Pacific Ocean

Physical Location

Organization: Southwest Fisheries Science Center
City: La Jolla
State/Province: CA
Country: USA

Data Set Information

Data Set Scope Code: Data Set
Data Set Type: Database
Maintenance Frequency: As Needed
Data Presentation Form: Table (digital)

Support Roles

Data Steward

CC ID: 276141
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Nasby-Lucas, Nicole
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
US
Email Address: nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
Phone: 858-334-2826

Distributor

CC ID: 857681
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037
USA
Phone: (858)546-7000
URL: http://swfsc.noaa.gov/
Business Hours: 8:00-16:30

Metadata Contact

CC ID: 276142
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Nasby-Lucas, Nicole
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
US
Email Address: nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
Phone: 858-334-2826

Point of Contact

CC ID: 4817
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Nasby-Lucas, Nicole
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
US
Email Address: nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
Phone: 858-334-2826
Contact Instructions:

Please contact Nicole Nasby-Lucas (nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov).

Extents

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 4815
Description

East Boundary - North, Central, and South American Coastline

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 4814
Time Frame Type: Continuing
Start: 1963-01-01
Alternate End As Of Info: complete to 1 year prior

Access Information

Security Class: Unclassified

URLs

URL 1

CC ID: 276144
URL: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/science-data/coastal-pelagic-and-highly-migratory-species-life-history-research-pacific
Name: Coastal Pelagic and Highly Migratory Species Life History Research in the Pacific
URL Type:
Online Resource

Data Quality

Accuracy:

In some instances, billfish are known to be misidentified. Location information is largely estimated by voluntary recreational anglers.

Quality Control Procedures Employed:

Survey results are manually checked for errors. Outliers are removed until the person who submitted the questionable results is contacted and the information is verified.

Data Management

Have Resources for Management of these Data Been Identified?: No
Approximate Percentage of Budget for these Data Devoted to Data Management: Unknown
Do these Data Comply with the Data Access Directive?: No
Is Access to the Data Limited Based on an Approved Waiver?: Yes
If Distributor (Data Hosting Service) is Needed, Please Indicate: Yes
Approximate Delay Between Data Collection and Dissemination: 1 year
Actual or Planned Long-Term Data Archive Location: NCEI-MD
Approximate Delay Between Data Collection and Archiving: 1 year
How Will the Data Be Protected from Accidental or Malicious Modification or Deletion Prior to Receipt by the Archive?:

Data are stored on a server at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center which has all appropriate access controls.

Lineage

Lineage Statement:

An electronic form or paper hard-copy Billfish Angler Survey is sent out at the beginning of each calendar year to cooperative anglers that have participated in the SWFSC Tagging Program or returned an Angler Survey within the most recent three years. Electronic forms are sent by email and also available online at the SWFSC website: http://swfsc.noaa.gov/FRD-Billfish/. Electronic forms are returned by email. Paper forms are sent to anglers that have not provided an email address and return postage is paid within the U.S.A. Anglers report the locations fished, number of days targeting billfish, and and number of billfish caught by species. Data is manually entered into database.

Acquisition Information

Instruments

Instrument Unavailable Reason: Not Applicable

Platforms

Platform Unavailable Reason: Not Applicable

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 2327
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:2327
Metadata Record Created By: Karen L Sender
Metadata Record Created: 2006-07-17 15:34+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2022-08-09 17:11+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2021-10-01
Owner Org: SWFSC
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2021-10-01
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2022-10-01