Absent: Dave Hosom (WHOI), Brad Moran (MIT), David Mountain (NMFS),
Guests: David McCarron (Massachusetts Division Marine Fisheries), Charlie T. Yustin (NMFS)
A meeting of the Project LENA investigators was held August 21, 1998 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The meeting began at 10:00am.
Ann prepared an agenda for the meeting and asked Bob to be the meeting recorder.
Chris is representing Cliff who could not come to the meeting today.
Ann noted that our web presence and web site will be important. Wendy White, General Manager of the New Hampshire Fish Exchange asked her about it.
Rollie mentioned that he is working on the gear equipment specifications. Joe had input to these as well. One question raised was how to handle instrumenting two net reels since they may be used concurrently. This led to more general discussion about keeping track of the open technical questions and the answers to "closed" questions. It was recommended that Bob set up a technical discussion area on the private web site showing action items and closed issues. E-mail should be "flagged"" (i.e. identified) when its contents should be added to this web page. [A table of open questions and current status is now available.]
Hartley noted the existence of the Seimac Report from Canada and suggested a Web link be established to it (http://www.seimac.com). Bob will take care of this. [Update: report is not on-line.] Hartley also mentioned the Coast Guard report on ship-shore data transmission options ( Technology Assessment of Mobile Satellite System Alternatives) but there is already a link to this site from one of Bob's reports. Hartley reviewed Brad Butman's (USGS) and Andy Maffei's (WHOI project to communicate between sea based sensors and shore. They plan to use spread spectrum, line of site, transmissions. Antennas exist at Gay Head Light House, WGBH/Blue Hill and elsewhere. The transmission will range from Gloucester to Block Island.
Peter mentioned that he started comparing several mapping software products including NAVTEK, MAPTRACK, CAPT'N, WINPLOT, and MAC????. Peter asked that others send him suggestions for others to review. After the meeting, Peter provided the following comments and URL links to aid in the software comparison.
Ken asked about integrating our software with the above navigation packages. It was noted that many of these packages already come with the ability to accept outside sensor input (such as sea surface temperature) and we need to decide how best to tie the pieces together. It was also noted that some fishermen already have their "favorite" navigation software and we need to consider whether we can support a choice of packages.
Ken reported that he has Barrie Walden's (WHOI) Athena data acquisition software running and brought it along to demonstrate. (He noted too that Dennis Shields has ported this software to NOAA ships.) He is comparing its performance on 486 and 586 machines; both work okay. Ken asked whether we wanted a fluorometer sensor on the system and suggested that Paul Fussil be called about it.
Ann distributed a draft "Joint Licensing Agreement" or subcontract document for review, comment and suggested changes by the next meeting. Ann thought that everyone should have received their funds and reminded people to spend their funds in a timely manner to keep ONR happy. She requested that NOPP's new web site be referenced in our web site as well. Bob will take care of that. Ann noted that we still need to complete a white paper ????.
in informal discussions and in preparation of the questionnaire, Rollie noted that the Gloucester Fish Exchange was interested in our projects. They have a very wide range of equipment and boats (50' to 100' in length). He and Craig spoke with Howard Nicholson, Jim Kendle, and Rodney Avila. Some fishermen already have two computers aboard and that it is "old hat." by now. These people would prefer a full keyboard so they can send e-mail. Currently they uses expensive cell phone communication links and would be "in hog heaven" with e-mail capabilities. They consider keyboards as expendable so do not worry about the harsh at-sea environment. In addition,
We still need to talk to people at Portland.
Fishermen and dealers' data are logged. Dealer reports and vessel trip reports are mailed in and scanned. Fishermen data, including species quality, depth, number of tows, and locations are keypunched in. (They are thinking about OCR input in the future.) Dealer data are reported weekly and there is an interactive touch tone/voice option available for data entry. There are some observers at-sea and they use onboard computers to enter their data, especially in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bearing Sea. David said he would get the names to us. There is a pilot project for electronic logbook reporting (Stuart Tuchach (sp?). There is also a proposal to put the logbook data on the web but there is a conflict as the fishermen want the data kept confidential. There are also issues about confirming who sent in the data (digital signatures) and insuring the security of the data for NMFS use.
The next steps include the Auction Project and the ACCSP Project.
We discussed electronic data collection. Rollie noted that there was no interest in the logbook (by catch, hails, landing time). Charlie said there was a written document of what the logbook is. Current rules require a written report from vessels and the rules would have to change to accept electronic data transmission.
The question of who pays for the system and what should/does it cost were raised again. Also, the question of should the system be built for "now" or the "future" was raised. The answers to these questions affect the design.
We noted that we need a report on what fishermen use for mapping and navigation software. This is an "action item."
Joe talked to people at Trimble about their Galaxy Inmarsat-C system. This unit has a transmission box, can interface to a PC, has its own antenna with GPS reception as well, memory, processor, own power supply, RS232, Nema O183 for GPS, printer port and aux. input. It costs $2,500 - $3,000.
Also, Joe noted that there exists a Trimble NavMariner, an integrated differential GPS (DGPS), charting and navigation unit.
We agreed to target the Trimble Inmarsat-C unit. Someone suggested the possibility of using Keith's Trimble unit for test. Bob will check with Keith about this.
Open issues for the web page include:
There was also a short discussion about a $600 compass for wind direction. Concern was over the cost.
The consensus was to invite Dan Lynch, Robert Thompson, and Merlin Miller. Ann will follow up on this.
The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 24, 1998 from 0900 - 1500 at MIT.
The meeting ended at about 3:00pm.