West Coast Fisheries Bycatch Reduction Research with Temperature and Light Data

Oceanographic data from conservation engineering projects aimed at reducing bycatch in west coast groundfish and ocean shrimp trawl fisheries. The research, conducted by the NWFSC Marine Habitat Ecology Team with regional collaborators, includes testing Bycatch Reduction Devices and codend selectivity. The dataset includes temperature and light radiance measurements.

Use Cases

• Modeling the effectiveness of Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs) based on described testing protocols
• Analyzing gear selectivity characteristics based on described mesh size and configuration experiments
• Investigating relationships between environmental factors (temperature, light) and bycatch rates
• Assessing fishery constraints under catch share programs and Annual Catch Limits (ACLs) described in the data

Strengths

• Data originates from a formal NOAA research team (NWFSC Marine Habitat Ecology Team) with key regional collaborators
• Research scope includes multiple gear types (midwater and bottom trawl, mobile and fixed gears) and target species
• Projects are linked to a specific regulatory program (Pacific coast Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Catch Share Program) starting in 2011

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Research projects conducted by the Marine Habitat Ecology Team at the NWFSC through regional collaborations.

Time Range

Projects are linked to a program starting in January 2011; specific temporal coverage of the data is unknown.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-14 22:51:53.494348; freshness should be verified

Geography

West coast groundfish and ocean shrimp trawl fisheries (U.S. Pacific coast).