DEMERSAL FINFISH FIN& REPORT for the Contract
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DEMERSAL FINFISH FIN& REPORT for the contract for Technical Services for Staffing the Marine Science and Fisheries Center Funded by the Omani-American Joint Commission as Project Number 272-0101.1-1 Prepared by Steven R. Hare Oregon State University/CIFAD* *cIFm:THE CONSORTIUM FOR ~NTERNAT~ONALFISHERIES AND AQUACULTUREDEVELOPMENT. MEMBERINST~TU~IONS a:UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT PINE BLLJFF, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII, MICH~GANSTATE UNIVERISTY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, OREGON STATE UNIVERS~~Y. Table of Contents I. Executive Summary of Activities and Results ....................... 1 I1. Introduction and Section Ovewiew .............................. 3 A.Mission. ............................................. 3 B. Section Objectives ...................................... 3 C. Duties of the Section Head ............................... 4 D . General Description of Demersal Finfish Resources and their Importance ........................................4 1. Demersal Trawl (Commercial) Fishery .................. 4 a)Fishery .................................... 4 b) Recent Catch Levels .......................... 5 c) ManagemenVDeveIopment Concerns .............. 5 2. Artisanal Demersal Fishery .......................... 6 &)Fishery .................................... 6 b) Recent Catch Levels .......................... 6 c) ManagemenVDevelopment Concerns .............. 7 E. Research Situation at Start of Project ....................... 7 1. Summary of previously completed research .............. 7 2. AvaiIable Data Sources ............................. 7 3. Limitations of available information and research: situation and abilities at start of project ..................... 7 F. Summary of Research Situation at the End of the Project ........ 8 111 . Summary of Activities ....................................... 9 A. Direction of Research ................................... 9 B. Brief Description of Projects .............................. 9 C . Brief Description of on the job or other training. with examples of changes in Omani staff capabilities .................... 11 IV . Specific Research Projects ................................... 12 A. Training of Data Collectors to Work On Board Commercial Trawlers ......................................... 12 1. Introduction .................................... 12 2. Methods ....................................... 13 3. Results and Discussion ............................ 14 4. Snmmary of Findings ............................. 17 5 . Recommendations ................................ 18 B. Operation of On Board Data CoIlection Program .............. 19 1. Introduction .................................... 19 2. Methods ....................................... 19 3. Results and Discussion ............................ 22 4. Summary of Findings ............................. 25 5. Recommendations ................................ 25 C. Demersal Finfish Data Processing System ................... 31 1. Introduction .................................... 31 2.Methods .......................................31 3. Results and Discussion ............................ 33 4. Summary of Findings and Recommendations ............ 33 Demersai Finfish Find Reprt Table of Contents. conk D. Analysis of Trawl Data from Commercial Fishery ............. 1. Introduction and Methods .......................... 2.Results ........................................ 3.Discussion ...................................... 4 . Summary of Findings ............................. 5. Recommendations ................................ a) Recommendations for Management .............. b) Recommendations for Future Research ........... E. Establishment of Database on Biological Characteristics of Principal Demersal Fishes Taken in Artisanal Fishery ....... 1. Summary of Activities ............................. 2. Recommendations ................................ a) Recommendations for Management .............. b) Recommendations for Future Research ........... V.0therActivities ............................................ A. Assistance with FA0 Research Vessel RmtreUiger .............. C . Publications and Reports ................................ VI . Summary of Recommendations Resulting from Project Activities ...... A. Recommendations for Management ........................ B . Recommendations for Future Research ..................... VII . Literature cited in Final Reprt .............................. Demersal Finfish Final Report Table of contents, cont. WII. AF'PENDICES Final Examination for On Board Data Collectors Hare, S.R. 1990a. Sampling Manual for Data Collectors Aboard Demersal Trawlers. Oman Marine Science and Fisheries Center, Special Report No. 1 - 1st Revision. 96 pp. NOTE THAT THIS IS BOUND UNDER SEPARATE COVER Hare, S.R. 1989b. Preliminary Results from Biological Sampling Aboard Demersal Trawlers Operating off the Coast of Oman: On Board Data Collection Program Cruises 1-5. Oman Marine Science and Fisheries Center, Research Brief 89-1. September 1989. 48 pp. Hare, S.R. 1989c. Preliminary Results from Biological Sampling Aboard Demersal Trawlers Operating off the Coast of Oman. [In] Papem Presented by MSFC Staff at the International Symposium on, Agriculture and Fisheries. MSFC Special Report 89-2. October, 1989 Hare, S.R. 1989d. Preliminary Results from Biological Sampling Aboard Demersal Trawlers Operating off the Coast of Oman: On Board Data Collection Program Cruises 6-10. Oman Marine Science and Fisheries Center, Research Brief 89-6. December 1989.48 pp. Hare, S.R. 1990b. Preliminary Results from Biological Sampling Aboard Demersal Trawlers Operating off the Coast of Oman: On Board Data Collection Program Cruises 11-15, Oman Marine Science and Fisheries Center, Research Brief 90-1. December 1989.53 pp. Trianni, M.S. 1990. A Report on the Sampling and Living Conditions Aboard the Demersal Trawlers Operating off the Coast of Oman. Oman Marine Science and Fisheries Center, Special Report No. 3.34 PP. Note: The 0.S.U.lC.I.F.A.D Final Report consists of the following which are bound separately. Summary Final Report Large Pelagics Final Report Small Pelagics Final Report SheIlfish/Demersal Final Report Demersal Finfish Final Report Aquarium Final Report Seafood Technology Final Report Library Final Report Demersal Finfish Final Report I. Executive Summary of Activities and Results Recognition of the need for increased scientific support for the management of Oman's demersal finfishes led to the addition of a Demersal Finfish Section at the Marine Science and Fisheries Center in January, 1989. Demersal stocks are har- vested by both a commercial (industrial) and artisanal fishery, with an unknown level of competition between the two. A fleet of eight trawlers, restricted to an offshore area between Masirah Island and the Kuria Muria Islands, comprises the commercial trawl fishery, while the artisanal fishery takes place in shallower waters along the entire coast of Oman. The intensive nature of trawling and the fact that little was known concerning the commercial catches, this despite their harvest from Omani waters since 1976, pro- vided the impetus for formation of an "On Board Data Collection Program". The intent of this program was to train Omani biologists to live and work aboard the trawlers, collecting the data required to provide a scientific basis for management of the fishery. The entire project, including salaries, supplies and data computeriza- tion, was paid for by the project. By the end of the project, eight months of trawler data (representing 1989 sampling) had been analyzed and preliminary recommenda- tions on needed management measures made. To provide management input four specific projects were carried out: - Training of Data Collectors to work On Board Commercial Trawlers - Operation of On Board Data Collection Program - Development of a Demersal Finfish Data Processing System - Analysis of Demersal Trawl Data A corps of 10 Data Collectors (DCs) were selected from among 36 candidates and intensively trained (three months of classroom work followed by three weeks at sea) in biological sampling aboard large freezer trawlers. The course was patterned after the U.S. NMFS Observer Programs, but modified for the situation in Oman. A sampling manual and specialized fish identification keys were developed especially for the program. Despite having only a high school education and no previous sea experience, the 10 DCs developed into excellent samplers. Working in pairs, the DCs spent approximately every other month at sea. Through the end of 1989, 15 sampling cruises had been completed (totalling 386 at sea days), yielding catch information on more than 4,000 individual trawl hauls. The data included time, position, depth and size of each haul, species composition of the discarded and retained catch, size distributions and biological parameters of pre- dominant species, factory production rates and gear size. Physical harassment by crew members while sampling in trawler factories was encountered during several of the cruises, which was resolved only by intervention at the highest levels of the Directorate General of Fisheries. To handle the large quantity of data collected from the DC Program, a microcom- Dernersal Finfish Final Report puter data processing system was developed. The system organized data entry, provided extensive error checking capability and produced initial data summaries on each cruise. Training in use of computers was provided to all DCs, who assumed much of the responsibility for data entry and error checking.