If you had to sum up in a few words what the process of fish stock assessment is all about, most science literature on the subject describes it as “turning data into advice.” One scientist who lives by such a dictum is Dr. Noel Cadigan, a researcher with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), working out of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The focus of his entire career has been stock assessment – trying to figure out as precisely as possible how many of which species of fish are in eastern Canadian waters. It is critical work, the results of which inform DFO about the health of the marine ecosystem in general, and more specifically, the status of specific commercial fish stocks from one fishing season to the next, and what are sustainable harvests.
The Theory of Stock Assessment
If you had to sum up in a few words what the process of fish stock assessment is all about, most science literature on the subject describes it as “turning data into advice.” One scientist who lives by such a dictum is Dr. Noel Cadigan, a researcher with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), working out of St. John’s, Newfoundland. The focus of his entire career has been stock assessment – trying to figure out as precisely as possible how many of which species of fish are in eastern Canadian waters. It is critical work, the results of which inform DFO about the health of the marine ecosystem in general, and more specifically, the status of specific commercial fish stocks from one fishing season to the next, and what are sustainable harvests.
The Theory of Stock Assessment