Deployment performance review of the 2017 North Pacific Observer Program
Abstract
This report contains the analyses and findings of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division’s Observer Science Committee (OSC) on the efficiency and effectiveness of observer deployment following the 2017 Annual Deployment Plan. Responses to comments by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Science and Statistical Committee from the 2016 version of this report, and recommendations to improve data quality and guide the 2019 Annual Deployment Plan are also included. In 2017, there were 10 strata to evaluate: one full-coverage stratum, six partial-coverage observer strata defined by gear and tender designation, one partial-coverage Electronic Monitoring (EM) stratum in pre-implementation, one zero coverage EM research stratum, and one zero-coverage stratum. Observers were deployed under trip-selection on 164 full coverage vessels that fished for 3,422 trips and 541 partial coverage vessels that fished 5,468 trips total. Pre-implementation EM systems were successfully deployed onto 80 vessels that fished for 683 trips. Research EM systems were deployed onto three vessels that fished for 36 trips. A total of 396 vessels fished 1,986 trips with no chance of being observed or monitored (zero-selection stratum). Coverage rates in full- and zero-coverage met their expectations for the year. Coverage rates in partial-coverage met their expectations in four out of six gear- and tender-based strata, with coverage rates for strata that did not meet expectations being higher than expected. Coverage rates in pre-implementation EM were lower than expected, however, it is important to note that the NMFS directed EM providers not to review some trips, so that resources could be allocated to other tasks. There was evidence of temporal bias in observer deployments: three of six gear- and tender-based partial-coverage strata were outside of their expected coverage rates for the majority of the year, with POT – No Tender being outside of its expected range for 100% of the year. There was also some evidence of spatial bias among the gear- and tender-based partial-coverage strata, with clustering of trips occurring to a similar extent as in 2016, but in different NMFS areas. There was evidence of an observer affect in three gear- and tender-based partial-coverage strata.
However, the OSC recommends that the metrics used to test for observer effects be re-evaluated. The OSC also recommends that the linkages between the planned and realized trip databases be strengthened, that strata be kept the same between the 2018 and 2019 ADPs, that sampling rates in future ADPs be high enough in each stratum to maximize the probability of achieving three observed trips in each of the NMFS areas, and that future ADPs include, as one option, a sample design in which strata are selected at the same rate.
