Net Gains Statement on the FIMM release
With this technical memorandum, NOAA Fisheries is laying out its commitment to better, faster, and more effective data to support sustainable fisheries management in the United States. Over the last four years, the Net Gains Alliance has supported a range of projects to demonstrate the value of improving fisheries data systems. We’re delighted to see the agency lay out a realistic work plan that invests in people, products, processes, and policies. By treating fisheries and ocean data as a strategic asset, NOAA Fisheries can better fulfill its stewardship role for America’s oceans and collaborate with the wider fisheries community. This will, in turn, make fisheries and oceans data a valuable asset for fishermen and other ocean users.
George Chmael II, Net Gains Alliance Director, said “the release of the FIMM technical memorandum demonstrates NOAA Fisheries’ commitment to data modernization across the agency and NGA looks forward to ongoing collaboration to make the promise of data modernization a reality”.
NOAA Leadership Message
NOAA Fisheries Releasing Report on Information Management Modernization
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has five key science and technology focus areas that will guide transformative advancements in the quality and timeliness of NOAA’s products and services across our mission areas. Our strategies in the fields of (1) Unmanned Systems (UxS), (2) Artificial Intelligence (AI), (3) Cloud Computing, the use of advanced methods to analyze material such as DNA, RNA, or proteins, called (4) ‘Omics, and (5) Data, will help us more efficiently and effectively adopt the breakthrough science and technology applications to improve the management of our ocean resources.
To help expand our ability to implement those focus areas, NOAA Fisheries will build off its Fisheries Information Management Modernization (FIMM) workshop. The purpose of the FIMM Workshop was to identify tangible actions to modernize the data and information system of NOAA Fisheries, the Fishery Information Networks (FINs), and other partners that provide, process, and use fisheries data. This workshop was a successful response to the recommendations of the Net Gains Alliance, a global initiative that is working to spur modernization of fisheries information systems.
Today, NOAA Fisheries is releasing the full FIMM workshop report including a series of recommendations for the agency to launch this modernization. . Modernized information workflows yield more timely and accurate science and data products. More timely and accurate science will help the agency better manage ocean resources to the benefit of the Nation. NOAA Fisheries now has an actionable plan (link to tech memo) to address recommendations to the agency, covering everything from data governance to policy, personnel to technology.
We strongly agree with the FIMM Workshop participants that data is one of NOAA Fisheries most important assets and requires adequate infrastructure, technology, staffing, and governance to support it. We also agree that partnerships have been, and will continue to be, essential to successful fisheries management. NOAA Fisheries must continue to cooperate and collaborate with its partners within and outside of NOAA to allow for efficient and cost-effective allocation and use of information management resources.
We are committed today to continuing our collaborative efforts on improving NOAA Fisheries data and information management systems that fishery managers around the country depend on. We will work to ensure that there is clear communication on the challenges we encounter and solutions we develop as we embark on this undertaking. We know this will not be a quick or easy process, but agree that the outcome will benefit not just the users of the data, but also the ocean resources we are managing.
We would like to thank all of the workshop organizers and participants of the workshop and look forward to our next implementation steps.
Net Gains Alliance providing nearly $1 million for several new projects driving modernization of US fisheries information systems.