Video Direct Count Data for Bycatch Reduction in West Coast Fisheries

Direct species counting and behavioral observations from video data collected by the NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center. The research focuses on reducing bycatch of species like Chinook salmon, eulachon, rockfish, and Pacific halibut in west coast groundfish and ocean shrimp trawl fisheries. The work is linked to the Pacific coast Groundfish Trawl Rationalization Catch Share Program, which established Annual Catch Limits starting in January 2011.

Use Cases

• Training computer vision models for species identification based on direct video counting.
• Analyzing fish behavior in response to different gear modifications like Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs).
• Evaluating the selectivity of codends with different mesh sizes and configurations from bottom trawl observations.
• Assessing the impact of catch share programs and hard caps on bycatch rates for overfished species.

Strengths

• Data originates from key regional collaborations with government agencies and the fishing industry.
• Research scope includes multiple gear types (midwater and bottom trawls, mobile and fixed gears) and several key bycatch species.
• Work is directly tied to a formal regulatory program (Groundfish Trawl Rationalization) with established Annual Catch Limits.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific west coast fisheries studied.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Video data collection from conservation engineering projects in trawl fisheries.

Time Range

Projects are described as 'current work' and linked to a program starting in 2011; specific temporal coverage is not defined.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03 14 22:49:21.946444; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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