North Pacific Observer Program Pre-class Reading Study Guide

You will soon be attending a 15 day (3-week) training course that has been called “intense” by many observer trainees. To prepare for training, you are required to read the documents outlined below. These documents should be provided to you by your employer or they can also be found on the Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division’s web site.

On the first day of your training, you will be given a “Pre-class Reading Quiz” over these materials and the minimum passing score is 80 percent. The emphasis of the quiz is upon the material contained in the Observer Sampling Manual as described below. It is “open book," and you will be provided with all the needed materials on the first day of training. The attached sample quiz questions will illustrate the level of difficulty you can expect in the “Pre-Class Reading Quiz." If you do not receive a passing score on the pre-class reading quiz, you will be provided with one re-take opportunity. Failure of the re-take will result in dismissal from class. Your performance on the “Pre-Class Reading Quiz” is an indicator of your level of preparedness for the training and is one of many tools used to evaluate your ability to be deployed as an observer in the Alaska fisheries.

Additional Resources

Observers

• 2024 Pre-Class Reading Study Guide
• North Pacific Observer Duties
• North Pacific Observer Program Training & Briefing
• North Pacific Observer Program Training Schedule
• North Pacific Observer Program Permitted Providers
• North Pacific Observer Pre-Class Reading Material
• North Pacific Observer Sampling Manual
• What is a North Pacific Groundfish and Halibut Observer Brochure
• Spatial Data Collected by Groundfish Observers in Alaska
• Alaska Groundfish Fishery Observer Data Map
• North Pacific Observer Resources

Vessels/Processors

• North Pacific Electronic Monitoring
• North Pacific Observer Program Annual Deployment Plans
• North Pacific Observer Program Annual Reports
• North Pacific Observer Vessel / Plant Operator FAQ
• North Pacific Observer Vessel / Plant Operator Comment Form
• Observer Deploy and Declare System (ODDS) 
• Observer Fee Collection and Payment
• Observer Harassment Warning (PDF)
• North Pacific Observer Program Federal Register - Rules and Notices

• North Pacific Observer Program FMP Amendments - Rules and Notices

• Regulatory Analyses