{"id":1585,"date":"2020-08-24T08:41:15","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T12:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2023-07-27T11:14:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T15:14:42","slug":"where-can-i-find-quick-and-free-info-about-fish-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/where-can-i-find-quick-and-free-info-about-fish-stocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Can I Find Quick and Free Info about Fish Stocks?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The new NOAA Fisheries Stock SMART Tool provides easy online access to current and historical data on federal stock assessments.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Need<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Stock assessment reports scientifically describe the current condition of fish stocks, including their size (abundance), the impacts of fishing upon them (total catch and harvest rate), their overfished and overfishing status, and the maximum harvest they can sustain over the long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each NOAA Fisheries science center<\/a> and Fishery Regional Fishery Management Council<\/a> provides access to stock assessment reports through the web. Fishermen, nonprofits, and academics all are interested in these reports; however, given the long, complex nature of the reports, it is difficult to quickly find basic information, visualize stock status changes with time, or compare stock assessments across regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Answer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NOAA Fisheries\u2019 Office of Science and Technology\u2019s Species Information System (SIS) is a centralized database that contains the results of stock assessments conducted since 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOAA Fisheries examined similar stock assessment data portals, reviewed its requests for information from stakeholders, and redesigned a new public-facing web tool called Stock SMART (the Stock Status, Management, Assessment, and Resource Trends Tool) to better communicate information within the SIS database. Stock SMART draws from records of federally managed stocks to enable users to easily search, view, compare, and download the results of NOAA Fisheries stock assessments. It is dynamic, more intuitive, and better tailored to stakeholder needs than the previous public portal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stock SMART\u2019s features include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n