Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Survey Replacement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Division launches pilot survey after research vessel deemed inoperable, warns of data continuity risks
Summary
After the RV Carolina Coast was rendered inoperable, the Division of Marine Fisheries began a lower-cost pilot using smaller boats and nets to preserve Pamlico Sound time series data, but staff warned the change could disrupt long-term trend analyses and that side‑by‑side validation will be costly.
The Division of Marine Fisheries told commissioners it will begin testing a pilot replacement for the Pamlico Sound Survey after the program’s long‑standing 44‑foot trawler, the RV Carolina Coast, was found inoperable.
Jason Rock, the division’s Fisheries Management Section chief, said the Pamlico Sound Survey has produced 38 years of data for species including blue crab, kingfish, shrimp and southern flounder. Repair estimates for the Carolina Coast’s visible damage were about $200,000, used vessels ran roughly $300,000–$500,000, and a new vessel was estimated near $1.2 million, he said. Contracting commercial or university vessels produced estimates of $20,000–$50,000 per month, depending on the platform and necessary modifications.
Facing those costs, the division decided to test a lower‑cost approach using smaller vessels and a single 20‑foot trawl (rather than the two 30‑foot nets towed by the Carolina Coast). Rock described the September pilot as “proof of concept,” reporting that the pilot captured similar species and size classes in sampled areas but that the data are limited and further testing is needed.
"We completed the first round of pilot testing in September 2025," Rock said. "Some preliminary analysis looks promising. Generally we're seeing the same species, and they're of a similar size, as to what we would typically see in those areas." He also warned that smaller boats are more weather‑sensitive and that operations may take longer.
Commissioners and technical members pressed staff about the analytical consequences of changing platforms. One commissioner warned the shift could disrupt the long time series that stock assessments and management rely on.
"The biggest disadvantage…is the disruption of the long time series of data that are inputs to all of the stock assessment processes," a commissioner said, urging the division to evaluate side‑by‑side comparisons if feasible.
Rock acknowledged those concerns and said analytical methods exist to bridge breaks in a data stream, but that side‑by‑side validation would be costly. He said the division will continue to coordinate with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission staff and NOAA’s Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program to ensure the pilot provides useful information for assessments.
Next steps include expanded pilot testing in June and September 2026, broader outreach to industry for operational advice, and further analysis to determine which areas can be sampled effectively with the smaller platforms. Rock also noted recurring budget and personnel constraints that could limit the division’s ability to run both the old and new approaches concurrently.
If the pilot proves robust, the division said it will develop a longer‑term replacement survey that balances cost and the need to preserve or validate the historic time series used in stock assessments.
