Deployment performance review of the 2018 North Pacific Observer Program

This report contains the analyses and findings of the Alaska Fisheries Science Center’s Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division’s Observer Science Committee (OSC) on the efficiency and effectiveness of observer deployment following the 2018 Annual Deployment Plan. Responses to comments by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Science and Statistical Committee from the 2017 version of this report, and recommendations to improve data quality and guide the 2020 Annual Deployment Plan are also included. In 2018, there were 11 strata to evaluate: one full coverage stratum, five partial coverage observer strata defined by gear and tender designation, one partial coverage Electronic Monitoring (EM) stratum for hook-and-line (HAL) vessels, two EM strata in pre-implementation for vessels fishing pot gear with and without tendering, one zero coverage EM research stratum, and one zero coverage stratum. Observers were deployed under trip-selection on 159 full coverage vessels that fished for 3,400 trips and 602 partial coverage vessels that fished 5,318 trips. This was the first year in which data from the EM HAL stratum were used in catch estimation and this represents the first time EM data have been used in this way in Alaska. 2019 NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) AFSC (Alaska Fisheries Science Center) Submitted https://doi.org/10.25923/cvrp-je11 Public Domain 1863