The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National
Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) deploys fishery
observers to collect catch and bycatch data from US
commercial fishing and processing vessels. Annually 42
different fisheries are monitored by observer programs
logging over 60,000 observer days at sea. NOAA
Fisheries has been using observers to collect fisheries
data from 1972 to the present. Observers have monitored
fishing activities on all US coasts, collecting data for
a range of conservation and management issues.
NOAA Fisheries coordinates observer program management
through its Office of Science and Technology/National Observer
Program (NOP). The NOP seeks to support observer programs
and increase their usefulness to the overall goals of NOAA
Fisheries. Improvements in data collection, observer
training, and the integration of observer data with other
research are among the important issues that the NOP works
to achieve on a national level.
Click on the map
below for more detailed information about specific observer
program in the geographical area.
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