![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fish-news.com\/cfn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/JR4-CFRF_ShelfResearchFleet_MikeMarchetti_FVMisterG_GlenGawarkiewicz_WHOI-b.jpg\")
<\/a>Mike Marchetti, left, of the fishing vessel Mister G, and WHOI researcher Glen Gawarkiewicz at work as part of the CFRF shelf research fleet. (CFRF photos)<\/p><\/div>\n
The CFRF initially launched the project using internal funds.\u00a0 Then, in 2015, a NOAA Saltonstall-Kennedy grant secured two more years of data collection.<\/p>\n
The resulting four-year time series has helped inform the lobster stock assessment with offshore data and helped create a fishery management plan for Jonah crab.<\/p>\n
It also set the stage for the foundation to apply the research fleet approach to data collection in other fisheries and for oceanographic monitoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past two years, CFRF has become more independent in pursuing and implementing projects that are important to the fishing industry,\u201d said executive director Anna Malek Mercer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a growing staff and research capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercer, and research associates Aubrey Ellertson and Thomas Heimann, now staff four research fleets:<\/p>\n
l\u00a0 The continuation of the lobster and Jonah crab study;<\/p>\n
l\u00a0 A black sea bass study;<\/p>\n
l\u00a0 A quahog abundance study; and<\/p>\n
l\u00a0 Ocean climate data collection with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important for the fleet to contribute to the assessment and management of the species they fish. The fishermen own the data that they collect and can review it at any time,\u201d said Mercer.<\/p>\n
The research fleet studies are partially a response to changes in foundation funding, which Mercer said changed how they operate.<\/p>\n
Previously, the foundation received federally earmarked funds, which were used to solicit collaborative research projects from other institutions.<\/p>\n
Now. staff are actively conducting research hand-in-hand with the fishing industry, Mercer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been challenging to keep the foundation funded and in tune with the priorities of the fishing industry,\u201d said Mercer.<\/p>\n
But she has been seeking and awarded grants from a variety of competitive research programs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we couldn\u2019t do it without industry support,\u201d Mercer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not easy after hauling the 50th pot to stop and start sampling,\u201d Mattera said of the lobster fleet.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut these guys have been awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lobster<\/i><\/b> <\/i>and<\/i><\/b> <\/i>Jonah<\/i><\/b> <\/i>crab<\/i><\/b> <\/i>fleet<\/i><\/b> <\/i>research<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
The time series is fast approaching 100,000 lobsters sampled for the study \u201cSupporting Management of the Emerging Jonah Crab Fishery and the Iconic Lobster Fishery in the Northeast USA.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
Fourteen commercial fishermen sample 300 lobsters per month, or 60 commercial traps. Three ventless traps are also sampled.\u00a0 Bottom temperature is recorded from a fixed site within each fisherman\u2019s fishing area.<\/p>\n
In addition to lobster sex and size, fishermen collect data on shell disease and hardness, notching, and data on the traps\u2019 soak time, depth, and location.<\/p>\n
When Jonah crabs were added to the…<\/p>\n
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