Eyes on the water: Use of the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System by the Lobster Fishing Industry and the Fisheries Research and Management Communities Kathleen Reardon Commercial Lobster Sea Sampling Coordinator Maine Department of Marine Resources West Boothbay Harbor, ME
Gulf of Maine Abingdon, UK
MAINE Gulf of Maine Maine American Lobster Year-round fishery Year-round fishery 2007 landings 2007 landings 28,700 MT 28,700 MT 77% ME ex-vessel value 77% ME ex-vessel value >6,000 licenses >6,000 licenses >10,000 jobs >10,000 jobs $500 million USD $500 million USD
Buoys Gulf of Maine State of Maine Added after 2001
Gulf of Maine State of Maine
Gulf of Maine State of Maine
< 15 meters to 5 m Boat Size
There are days you want to fish…. And the days you don’t!
Accessing GoMOOS Weather Radio Weather Radio Website Website Dial-A-Buoy Dial-A-Buoy Decisions must be made before the sun comes up
Wind and Seas
Temperatures
Visibility
Fishermen Testimonial The best weather site going!!! GoMOOS is a valuable resource for weather tracking and determining whether a vessel should venture out beyond a certain point. Saves time not having to listen to whole forecast on the weather box to get the wind at the buoys before lobstering. I use the data from the buoys to determine how I run my business. I trust the weather buoys with my life.
Research and Management Community Field Sampling Field Sampling Data exploration Data exploration Monitoring Monitoring Modeling Modeling
Timing of lobster molt
Fish Migration Monitoring Salmon (ongoing) Salmon (ongoing) Sturgeon (ongoing) Sturgeon (ongoing) Halibut (potential) Halibut (potential) John Kocik, NOAA Salmon Trish Cheney, DMR
Water Quality: Shellfish Management Growing Area Classification Growing Area Classification Identifying pollution sources Identifying pollution sources Biotoxin monitoring Biotoxin monitoring Modeling and predicting HABs Modeling and predicting HABs