Improving the Use of Habitat Information in Stock Assessments

The Office of Science and Technology provides support to NMFS scientists for habitat assessment research projects. A major focus of the Habitat Assessment Improvement Plan (HAIP) is to improve stock assessments through the incorporation of benthic and pelagic habitat information. While many stock assessments do not currently incorporate habitat information directly into the assessment models, habitat data is important to other areas of the stock assessment process. This effort is designed to improve the availability and utility of habitat information in support of the stock assessment process for stocks managed Federal Fishery Management Plans, with an emphasis on stocks listed under the Fish Stock Sustainability Index (FSSI). Each year 3 to 6 habitat assessment projects are selected for funding.

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2016 Projects

Seabed mapping to develop a habitat-based catchability function for the Bristol Bay red king crab (Paralithodes camtschatica) stock assessment
Principal Investigator: Robert McConnaughey
Region: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Using habitat-specific, spatial demographic information to improve stock assessments of groundfishes
Principal Investigator: Jameal Samhouri, Scott Hamilton, Jason Cope
Region: Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC)

Kill 'em or hide 'em: where are all the old female rockfish?
Principal Investigator: Susan Sogard, John Field, Mary Yoklavich, NOAA/NMFS/SWFSC/FED, Santa Cruz, CA
Region: Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)

Marshes to mangroves: examining growth and patterns of habitat use by penaeid shrimp in a changing marsh landscape to inform stock assessments
Principal Investigator: Thomas Minello, Lawrence Rozas, Rick Hart
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

Combining high-resolution bathymetry and recreational catch rates to model the spatial distribution of biomass for reef-associated nearshore species
Principal Investigator: E.J. Dick, Melissa Monk, and Rebecca Miller
Region: Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)

2015 Projects

Improving Stock Assessments for Rockfishes Using Habitat-referenced Acoustic Surveys in the Gulf of Alaska
Principal Investigator: Chris Wilson
Region: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Distribution and application of a new geostatistical index standardization and habitat modeling tool for stock assessments and essential fish habitat designation in Alaska and Northwest Atlantic regions
Principal Investigator: Jim Thorson
Region: Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC)

Using habitat-specific, spatial demographic information to improve stock assessments of groundfishes
Principal Investigator: Jameal Samhouri
Region: Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC)

Incorporating hypoxia-based habitat compression impacts into the stock assessment process for tropical pelagic billfish and tuna
Principal Investigator: Eric Prince
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

2014 Projects

Prioritizing spawning habitats in terms of their relative contribution to recruitment success
Principal Investigator: John Walter
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

Habitat assessment for Pacific Sardine juveniles
Principal Investigator: Russ Vetter
Region: Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)

Estimating habitat-specific variability in growth rates of juvenile penaeid shrimps for incorporation into stock assessment models
Principal Investigator: Lawrence Rozas
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

Integrating Habitat Information into Stock Assessments to Maximize Precision: A Case Study Using Data from the Annual Sea Scallop Survey Provided by HabCamV4, an Integrated Habitat Mapping Camera and Acoustics System
Principal Investigator: Dvora Hart
Region: Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

Physiological ecology and habitat suitability: combining experiments and surveys to inform stock assessments
Principal Investigator: Jon Hare
Region: Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

Identifying essential spawning habitats for improving assessment and management of the market squid fishery off California
Principal Investigator: Emmanis Dorval
Region: Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)

2013 Projects

Integrating spatial habitat and fisheries effort data to improve abundance estimates of west coast groundfish
Principal Investigator: Andrew Shelton
Region: Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC)

Evaluating Smooth Sheet Bathymetry for Determining Trawlable and Untrawlable Habitats
Principal Investigator: Wayne Palsson
Region: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Evaluating the use of acoustic bottom typing to inform bottom trawl survey catchability models for snow crab in the eastern Bering Sea
Principal Investigator: Robert McConnaughey
Region: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Identifying habitat use by male and female red king crabs during mating season
Principal Investigator: Chris Long
Region: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Predictive modeling of habitat distribution to support expansion of fishery-independent survey efforts: laying the groundwork to reduce uncertainty in stock assessments
Principal Investigator: Todd Kellison
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

Improving the identification of directed fishing effort when calculating CPUE using the relationship between habitat and reef fish abundance derived from fishery independent surveys
Principal Investigator: Doug DeVries
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

2012 Projects

Spatially Predictive Modelling and Mapping of Groundfish Species to Advance Stock and Habitat Assessments Relevant to SW Habitat Blueprint Regional Initiative
Principal Investigator: Mary Yoklavich
Region: Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)

Estimating habitat related variability in natural mortality of juvenile white shrimp for incorporation into stock assessment models
Principal Investigator: Lawrence Rozas
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

Accounting for habitat-dependent observation error in bottom trawl survey indices for pelagic stocks using butterfish (Peprilus triacanthus) as a model
Principal Investigator: John Manderson
Region: Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

Locating essential spawning grounds for red king crab in the eastern Bering Sea
Principal Investigator: Chris Long
Region: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Defining eco-regions and applying spatial analyses of species abundance, community dynamics and stock substructure to incorporate habitat in SSMs and MSMs
Principal Investigator: Anne Hollowed
Region: Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC)

Estimation of habitat-stratified catch efficiency of fishery-independent reef fish survey methodologies to improve estimates of stock size
Principal Investigator: Gerard DiNardo
Region: Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC)

2011 Projects

Incorporating evnironmental and habitat characteristics into the brown shrimp stock assessment for the northern Gulf of Mexico
Principal Investigator: Thomas Minello
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

Detecting an environmental gradient in maturity, spawning rates, and fecundity of inshore winter flounder stocks: does thermal habitat create spatial heterogeneity of life history parameters within stock boundaries?
Principal Investigator: Richard McBride
Region: Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

Incorporating measures of habitat area into stock assessments: a case study with winter flounder and summer flounder
Principal Investigator: Jon Hare
Region: Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC)

2010 Projects

Relating Population Abundance of Groundfish Species to Habitats Using Predictive Models and Broad-scale Seafloor Maps
Principal Investigator: Mary Yoklavich
Region: Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)

Habitat Modeling of Atlantic Blue Marlin with SEAPODYM and Satellite Tags
Principal Investigator: Michael Schirripa
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)

Incorporating Sediment and Hydrography Data in Assessments for Tilefish and Lobster
Principal Investigator: John Quinlan
Region: Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC)