Atlantic Oculina Survey (2004)

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories conducts standardized fisheries independent resource surveys off the east coast of the United States to provide abundance and distribution information to support regional and international stock assessments. A pilot pelagic longline survey was conducted in 2004 off the east coast of the United States. The objective of the survey was to examine the feasibility of using pelagic longline gear to collect fisheries-independent data on stocks of offshore fishes and to establish protocols for future use. Additional objectives included examining the distribution and relative abundance of pelagic fishes in the region and collect biological and environmental data.

To examine potential strategies and methods to conduct a fisheries-independent survey of pelagic fish populations.

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As specimens are collected, total number of individual fish by species and lengths are taken and recorded into the shipboard data collections system. At the end of each survey data are reviewed for accuracy/relevance by chief scientists. Specimens that cannot be identified during the survey are identified in the laboratory.

Data resides in the laboratories’ centralized database (Oracle). Security patches are applied to the database and host environment immediately after their release. In addition, Security benchmarks are applied to the database and host environment. Data residing in the centralized database (Oracle) is backed up nightly. Backup sets are placed on the laboratories’ Networked Attached Storage (NAS) environment. Security patches/updates are immediately applied to the host environment. Data is stripped/mirrored using RAID 50 technology to protect data from disk failure. Nightly backups are preformed and files are written to magnetic tape and stored in an onsite / offsite location.

Catch data (species, length, weight, sex) are collected on paper and are then entered into the database. All longline set locations and environmental data are imported directly into the database. All data are thoroughly scrutinized by watch leaders at sea and then again checked for accuracy at the end of each survey. Once considered complete and accurate, data were transferred to the custodian.