Science Advisory Report 2019/004

Framework for the Qualitative Assessment of the Dependability of Catch Data from Existing Fisheries Monitoring Tools

Summary

• DFO is developing a policy on fishery monitoring. It is proposed that the implementation of the policy will require DFO to assess the dependability of estimates from catch monitoring programs
• Dependability is the ability of each catch monitoring tool to achieve the objectives for which it was intended, such as a threshold or desired level of quality.
• A review of industry-reported and independent-observer catch monitoring tools was completed to identify their strengths, weaknesses, and limitations in providing dependable catch estimations. Feasibility and cost effectiveness were not considered.
• The effects of a number of statistical and operational factors that affect dependability cannot always be explicitly quantified and therefore a framework that accepts both opinion and data-based assessment of the quality and dependability of estimates from fishery monitoring programs has been developed. 
• This framework is applied individually to a measured property of a monitoring tool (e.g. target species discards). By its design, the framework allows for the assessment of the dependability of a monitoring program using multiple tools and for the dependability of catch estimations using multiple monitoring programs.
• A practitioner’s guide is being developed and will help users apply the framework in a consistent manner.

This Science Advisory Report is from the June 20-23, 2017 meeting Framework for the qualitative assessment of the dependability of catch data from existing fisheries monitoring tools. Additional publications from this meeting will be posted on the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Science Advisory Schedule as they become available.

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