We write to bring your attention to NMFS’ recently released draft rule on confidential fisheries data and information. The rule will be open for comment for 45 days, until April 25, 2024.
NMFS’ Fisheries Information System (FIS) program has been a constant driver of deliberate and strategic progress. Because FIS focuses on information needs identified by NMFS staff and data partners, people and organizations outside that network may not know about the program and its positive impacts. From the Net Gains’ Alliance’s perspective, FIS is central to the data modernization improvements of the last decade. As NGA wraps up this phase of our work, we’re writing this love letter to FIS to help others learn from their example and share their stories of how FIS has improved their work.
Since the Net Gains Alliance began our work in 2017, we’ve called for implementation of unique trip identifiers (UTIDs) as a way to quickly and reliably integrate commercial fishing data. Ideally, unique trip identifiers are machine-generated at the first point of data collection and automatically propagated to link all of the information generated by a trip such as trip reports, dealer reports, observer information, and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) tracks.
As a business owner, authoritative and reliable industry data helps me plan my operations and recruit partners to build a successful business. Banks and investors can easily find independent information about seasonal trends, consumer demand, and market dynamics. USDA’s frequent, detailed, and public reporting reduces investors’ time and effort for due diligence, which helps incentivize investments. USDA data also drives the development of products like crop insurance and informs long-term purchase contracts. Sharing this data supports U.S. agriculture in a global marketplace.
The ocean is a deeply connected ecological system. Ocean communities and businesses are also tightly linked, with supply chains connecting boats far offshore to inland processing plants to buyers thousands of miles away. Just as fish and seafood products flow easily from place to place, so does the data about those fish–or at least it should.
The Net Gains Alliance appreciates the opportunity to comment on the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) regarding potential changes to the implementing guidelines for National Standards, 4, 8, and 9 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (NS guidelines).
Spatial information about economically and ecologically important fishing areas is critical to maintaining sustainable fisheries in a changing world. Fishing is one of many activities competing for ocean space. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) collects, provides, and uses spatial tracking data collected from commercial fishing vessels through Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS). However, VMS data are difficult to access and underutilized as a result. If VMS data products were more widely available, they could provide valuable insights for management, conservation, business analytics, and science. The Net Gains Alliance recently released a set of recommendations and actionable steps the National Marine Fisheries Service could take to improve the findability and accessibility of VMS data products.
Despite the importance of data to NMFS’ mission, the agency does not publicly report on the state of its data infrastructure - the people, processes, policies, and products that enable NMFS to turn information into action. The Net Gains Alliance believes a critical part of supporting fisheries and ocean sustainability is making data infrastructure visible so it can be invested in and improved. This report assesses NMFS on 15 data modernization metrics, using information gathered through June 30, 2023. Of the 13 metrics we could evaluate, four are stalled, five are in progress, and four have been partially or fully achieved.
As the oceans become busier and climate change upends our expectations of stability, information about where and when fishing happens is vitally important. Location data is critical to achieving NMFS’ fisheries conservation and management mission and for planning for a sustainable ocean future. However, there is limited spatial information on fishing areas to support science, management, and business; and data products that do exist are difficult to find and access. NMFS should take proactive steps to improve the availability of spatial data about fisheries. In addition, managing data as an asset—a commitment of NOAA’s Data Strategy–depends on making data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.
Despite the importance of data to NMFS’ mission, the agency does not publicly report on the state of its data infrastructure - the people, processes, policies, and products that enable NMFS to turn information into action. The Net Gains Alliance believes a critical part of supporting fisheries and ocean sustainability is making data infrastructure visible so it can be invested in and improved.
