Abstract

We look into the possibility of using fishery-dependent time series to fill in regional and temporal data gaps in the absence of scientific, fishery-independent data. Understanding Oregon’s nearshore ground fish fishery has been hindered by sampling coverage restrictions and a historical emphasis on ground fish that live on continental slopes. The statistics are constrained by the years and seasons surveyed as well as the lack of information for locations shallower than 55 m in water depth, despite fisheries-independent surveys having been undertaken across the majority of the fishery’s depth range. For such shallow seas and over a wider time span, there are data that are depending on the fisheries. The coverage was established by the locations that fishers chose to fish, yet these statistics were self-reported. We examined capture rates, gaps in fisheries (logbook) and scientific (NOAA survey) data, and regional and temporal variations in catch rates for six flatfishes in order to look into the possibility of future integrated uses for these data sources.