Development of best practices for the collection of longline data to facilitate research and analysis to reduce by-catch: report of a workshop held at the International Fisheries Observer Conference

To facilitate research and analysis of factors influencing bycatch of marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds in longline fisheries, a workshop was organized to develop “best practices” in observer data collections. The workshop was held in conjunction with the International Fisheries Observer Conference, November 8-11, 2004, in Sydney, Australia.
The objectives of the workshop were to:
• Share information on current data collection practices and methodologies (i.e., which variables are collected by observer programs worldwide and how are they collected).
• Solicit information from data users on variables that are critical, preferred, optimal, or not important to facilitate research and analysis to reduce bycatch of protected species.
• Identify data not currently being gathered systematically that might facilitate research and analysis to reduce bycatch of protected species.
• Coordinate with observer program staff to understand data collection limitations.
• Recommend best practices for observer data collection in longline fisheries that would facilitate research and analysis to reduce bycatch of protected species, in the form of a prioritized list of variables and consistent procedures.
• Establish a network to continue to develop, refine, and implement best practices.
Workshop participants recommended variables to be collected systematically in all longline observer programs to aid in bycatch reduction research and analysis. An additional set of variables was identified to optimize data collections specific to bycatch species.