Collaborative Fisheries Research (CFR)

Developing a Collaborative Volunteer Network for Expanding Biotoxin Monitoring in California: Improving Seafood Safety

Is Rockfish Keeping You Up? Try Getting Down with Recompression!
Rockfish pose a challenge for fishermen who want to catch-and-release. When hooked at depth and pulled to the surface, the gas in their swim bladder expands.

Investigation into the optimal bucket trap hole diameter to reduce capture of immature hagfish
The commercial fishery in California for Pacific hagfish, (Eptatretus stoutii) is entirely for export.

Setting the Stage for Community-Based, Fishermen-Led Lost Crab Fishing Gear Recovery
Dungeness crab fishing grounds from Crescent City to Morro Bay may be littered with thousands of lost crab pots.

Developing an Index of Abundance for Pacific Sardine in California
New aerial surveys of sardines off Southern California will address fishermen’s concerns that sardine abundance estimates are effectively “missing California fish,” as this project will help pay fo

Cooperative Tagging and Tracking of Yellowtail to Assess Recruitment and Residency in the Southern California Bight
Yellowtail are a highly sought after trophy fish, whose basic life history characteristics are poorly understood.

Targeting Swordfish Deep During the Day to Reduce Bycatch
In this collaborative fisheries research project, scientists are tagging and tracking swordfish to learn more about the billfish’s movement patterns in relation to sea turtle habitat.

Mortality and Population Abundance of Three Species of Paralabrax off San Diego, California
In this project, anglers are catching, tagging and releasing calico bass and barred sand bass on chartered sportfishing trips to select sites inside and outside the new South Coast marine protected

An Assessment of the Responses of Rockfish Populations to Rockfish Conservation Area Closures in the Cordell Bank and Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuaries
Large swaths of the seafloor off the U.S.

Integrating Collaborative Data Collection with Management: A Lobster Fishery Test Case
Could commercial fishermen help gather and interpret data for long-term, cost-effective fisheries management?