NOAA Fisheries is enhancing our science enterprise and accelerating our data collection. This will allow us to increase the number and types of observations we can make. This is a vital step in advancing our mission to manage our nation’s marine resources in the face of climate change.
This effort will address challenges facing our data acquisition enterprise in the 21st century. It will help us achieve one of our top priorities: to accelerate our data collection and delivery capabilities. This will provide real-time advice and longer-range projections.
We need to expand our data enterprise to make the best management decisions possible. Marine species are undergoing shifts in their population numbers and location due to climate change. These shifts are impacting the people, businesses, and communities that depend on the species.
Below is an overview of areas where we are working to advance our data acquisition efforts. The examples align with our existing data work, supplement appropriated funding, and support other priorities including North Atlantic right whale conservation, Pacific salmon recovery, and red snapper sustainability.
Learn more about our regional essential data acquisition activities
Learn how this funding boosted our 2024 research for Pacific protected species
Investing in Our Survey Enterprise
By advancing our data for stock assessments, we will improve our understanding of our changing oceans. Our aim is to support management decisions by providing real-time advice and longer range projections. We will do so by increasing the number and types of observations we can make. We will ensure this important data is collected, delivered, and analyzed.
Integrated West Coast Pelagics Survey
The integrated West Coast pelagics survey will combine existing surveys for coastal pelagic species and Pacific hake. We will use modern technology and sampling methods on a NOAA Fisheries survey vessel in addition to charter vessels and uncrewed systems.
Research Vessel Purchase
The Southeast Fisheries Science Center will purchase, retrofit, and deploy a survey-ready research vessel.
Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight Uncrewed Aircraft System Capability
We will test detect-and-avoid technology with the support of the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. Together, we will establish acceptable risk standards to expand the scope of uncrewed aircraft system operations.
Pacific Protected Species Survey Charters
We will use charter vessels to carry out high-priority protected species surveys in the Pacific in fiscal years 2024 through 2026.
Alaska Fisheries Survey Charters
We have used charter vessels to cover walleye pollock fisheries surveys in the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea in fiscal year 2024.
Marine Recreational Information Program Fishing Effort Survey Study
We will support a year-long study to inform improvements to estimating recreational fishing effort.
Priority Survey Mitigation
We will use funds to strategically cover high-priority fisheries surveys as data gaps are identified in fiscal years 2024 through 2026.
Advanced Technology
Investing in our survey technologies will allow us to push the boundaries of our scientific expertise by bringing our data collection into a new era. We will achieve this through initiatives for uncrewed systems, passive acoustic monitoring, active acoustics, optics, remote sensing, and ‘omics. These new capabilities will increase the quantity and types of data we collect on fisheries and protected species and allow us to collect these data more efficiently. These capabilities will also help us monitor the status of our marine ecosystems.
‘Omics
We will examine how stocks are structured for key marine species and integrate environmental DNA metrics into fisheries and ecosystem assessments. We will also develop an agency-wide omics network. It will share information and enhance the efficiency of data generation and processing.
Active Acoustics
We will develop advanced analytical methods to automate echo classifications for assessed species and improve acoustic data workflows.
Optics
We will make significant investments to transform our approach to optical data collection and processing, such as machine learning-assisted image processing pipelines.
Passive Acoustic Monitoring
We will advance and transform passive acoustic monitoring activities. This will include expanding data visualization products like the SanctSound portal and increasing cloud storage capacity for sound recordings.
Uncrewed Systems
We will deploy uncrewed systems, such as gliders and uncrewed aerial vehicles, to support stock assessment and ecosystem surveys. This will allow us to reduce time aboard crewed NOAA vessels and aircraft and conduct research in safer, more economically efficient ways.
Remote Sensing
We will use artificial intelligence and machine learning to streamline analyses of remotely sensed data, which are collected via satellites, gliders, animal-borne sensors, and other sources. We will also integrate satellite datasets into our existing ecosystem modeling enterprise.
Social Science
We will accelerate economic and social analyses in decisions for managing fisheries and protected resources. This will enable fishing communities to more effectively adapt to climate-driven and other major changes in the marine environment.
Citizen Science Data Acquisition
We held our first funding opportunity specifically to support citizen science in fisheries management. Projects funded through this grant will apply citizen science techniques to support fisheries stock assessments and climate readiness.
