Center for Fisheries Enhancement

FISHERIES ASSESSMENT & ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Carl Walters, Ph.D., Program Manager; William R. & Lenore Mote Eminent Scholar in Fisheries Ecology

William (Bill) Pine, Ph.D., Post Doctoral Scientist; Assistant Program Manager

MISSION: To develop innovative methods for monitoring fish abundances and exploitation rates and expand young investigator and agency knowledge and skills about fisheries assessment and ecosystem modeling techniques. One of the most serious shortages and demands by the management agencies is for quantitative stock assessment and modeling, since ultimately most important resource-management policies must be specified and justified in quantitative terms (how much, how many, when and where). This program is making important contributions in at least four areas:
 

1. Contract research to do specific fisheries stock assessments and broader ecosystem modeling for particular policy issues such as coastal eutrophication.
2. Stock assessment and ecosystem modeling training for regional agency staff and university students, via workshops and short courses.
3. Provision of modeling support services to other Mote programs.
4. Basic and contract research on innovative monitoring methods, especially those involving use of high-technology (e.g. acoustic) tagging methods to track fish movements and mortality patterns.