A long-standing partner with NOAA Fisheries, IBSS is part of the modernization effort to develop a Next Generation Data Acquisition Plan (NG-DAP). The first major revision since 1998, this Plan will respond to a decade of evolving stakeholder priorities, technologies, US policies, and external events including the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the next 10-15 years, the new NG-DAP will impact NOAA’s engagement with Congress and stakeholder leaders.
The NG-DAP is expected to support nationwide data acquisition and guide NOAA toward a more holistic climate-focused, ecosystem-based management approach.
IBSS works with the NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology and experts and stakeholders nationwide across all regions to drive consistency for how NOAA Fisheries will collect and make data available to serve the current and emerging research needs. NOAA Fisheries needs to continue to collect the data that supports mandates for all NMFS trust resources e.g., the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), etc. However, given our need to detect and understand the fundamental changes in the oceans in the coming years, we need to plan how we will transition NMFS data collection in the long-term (10-20 years), including consideration of new surveys, technologies, and analytical capabilities (e.g., uncrewed systems UxS, environmental DNA eDNA, machine-learning and artificial intelligence AI/ML, among others). We will need an effective and efficient prioritization process, given our resources-constrained environment. We have to continually improve technologies, enhance data collection, modernize our fleet, and develop new methods of analysis. Since ~2015, NMFS has updated its Stock Assessment Improvement Plan, developed a National Climate Science Strategy and associated Regional Actional Plans, issued a national Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management (EBFM) Policy and Roadmap, launched a Climate & Fisheries Initiative, and it has undergone an in-depth review of its core science programs (NMFS Science Board 2021). These and related plans and reviews outline gaps in our understanding that necessitate new and/or different data acquisition strategies