Absent: R. Barnaby, D. Holsom, D. Mountain, C. Pendelton
Guests: Bob Kohl and Don Perkins
We began the meeting with updates from the FleetLink Partners.
Gary reported that the net sensors are working. Bob asked how the net sensor data would be time-stamped. There has to be some calculations done once the sensor data is transfered to the computer that will replace the relative times with absolute times.
Ken gave a demonstration of the user interface. It was noted that an e-mail send/receive tool and some kind of emergency signal tool are also needed.
Bob reported, by e-mail, that the real FleetLink web site is now up and running at http://www.fleetlink.net and the protected principal investigator's web site is available at http://pi.fleetlink.net.
Andy Maffei (amaffei@whoi.edu) should contact with Cliff about Andy's progress in developing the SEANET capabilities that enable vessels to tie into the Internet by a variety of communications channels.
We reiterated that our program's goal is to involve the commercial fishing industry, both the owner and crew, in scientific research, coastal monitoring, collecting data to sell to the National Weather Service, Navy, etc. The instruments installed on each vessel are intended to be purchased by the data buyers or the project. Some benefits to the fishermen include information about the bottom temperature, time on the bottom fishing, better weather prediction, better fish marketing, and better communication between the vessel and the fishing coop/auction. This is a partnership among industry, NMFS, and science. We should be building bridges among the equal partners. From the science perspective, computer models depend on data (flowfield and biology) from the near and far field. Collecting data for (near) real-time input to these models will result in better predictions. It was estimated that it would take $15,000 to instrument a vessel.
Bob's vessel is 62 feet long. He lands by species and current location to reduce his steaming time and maximize his return. It is complicated to decide where and what too catch due to regulations on mesh size and the closed areas. He now communicates with the buyer via FAX and the cell phone.
There is a New Bedford organization made up of travelers and draggers to "prove" to NMFS what is really going on in the field. He wants to do the right thing in obeying the regulations, but the NMFS' make this difficult. For example, some fishermen are worried about reporting bi-catch, such as undersize fish and the wrong species caught. He keeps his bi-catch to a minimum by fishing in areas known to have few of the "wrong" species.
He does use a PC at sea. He uses WinPlot (also LaserPlot). He remarked that he tends to look at the screen plot, rather than the Loran TD's or the latitude/longitude. He also noted that the BoatTracks product also provides email and FAX capabilities.
We agreed that Bob should be added to the FleetLink@fleetlink.net e-mail distribution list. {Note, this has not yet been done. Anybody know his e-mail address?]
They use DFO's computer system to log GPS, sounder and sonar data, in near real-time, 24 hours a day and provide seven day turn-around for data availability. His contact his Professor Phil Young. Data editing is done manually and the biomass is estimated. Three boats are used now for this activity, with three more expected to join the effort.
His group also holds meetings that bring together fishermen, processors, scientists, regulators, and environmentalists. These meetings can get contentious but by keeping a neutral stance, they are able to successfully run the meetings. So far they have had three of the five planned meetings. [My notes are unclear here. Was Don to be added to our PI email list as well?] In three to five years he is hoping that there will be an actual laboratory in existence that would do biotech research and marine research. They do not expect to do aqua culture since others (e.g. UMaine and UNH) are already active in this field. He hopes to share equipment and provide a public interface, including offering marine classes.
The next meeting date is Friday, February 18th, at MIT Sea Grant.
The meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.