NOAA Fisheries News Releases
NEWS RELEASE
February 23, 2007
Sheela McLean
(907) 586-7032
Team receives award for electronic reporting system
The National Administrative and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has nationally recognized a team from the Alaska Region of NOAA Fisheries for implementation of an interagency electronic catch reporting system for North Pacific fisheries with the 2006 NOAA Bronze Medal Award.
"We're pleased that NOAA has recognized the importance of this precedent-setting project, which has already improved fisheries reporting in Alaska, and may serve as a prototype for fisheries reporting across the nation," said Acting Regional Administrator Doug Mecum. "The project was truly interagency, and involved more than the NOAA Fisheries team. It was a partnership between NOAA Fisheries, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission, as well as with the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, consultants from Wostmann and Associates, and individuals in the fishing industry."
The new system moved Alaska fisheries reporting into the modern era, leaving behind paper fish tickets, meeting agency needs for timely and accurate catch accounting and facilitating industry reporting while consolidating the reporting requirements of NOAA Fisheries, the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the International Pacific Halibut Commission.
The NOAA Fisheries team of David Ackley, Gregory Bledsoe, Tamara Bledsoe, Jessica Gharrett, Stephen Kocsis, Marina Lindsey, Pamela Mason, Jennifer Mondragon, Larry Talley, Jennifer Watson and Josh Keaton won the bronze medal for "implementing an Interagency Electronic Catch Reporting System for the North Pacific fisheries to ensure effective industry reporting and support."
The new system was developed initially for the North Pacific crab fisheries during a 2005 change in Bering Sea and Aleutian Island crab fisheries management dubbed 'crab rationalization'. The system subsequently was expanded in late 2005 and early 2006 to provide time-critical catch information for the North Pacific groundfish and Pacific halibut fishery management programs.
NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources through scientific research, management, enforcement, and the conservation of marine mammals and other protected marine species and their habitat. To learn more about NOAA Fisheries in Alaska, please visit our websites at www.fakr.noaa.gov or at www.afsc.noaa.gov.
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