Well, the authors we had lined up for this month’s feature article needed a little extra time, so I’ll take this opportunity to talk about some changes and new features on the way.
As of March 31st, I’ll be handing off EM4Fish to my friend Huff McGonigal. Quite a few of you in the U.S. fisheries space already know Huff, as he’s been involved in many aspects of marine science and policy for 25-plus years. We met as consultants to Environmental Defense Fund’s Oceans program, where we worked to advance quota-based management policies. We also helped coordinate the 2014 and 2016 national EM workshops, which eventually—through some twists and turns and a successful grant application—served as a springboard for creating this platform.
EM4Fish is a shared space and a community of practice that depends on people like you, but inasmuch as it belongs to anyone, that will now be Huff. I imagine he’ll keep things going largely as they have been, but will also bring plenty of new ideas into the mix.
I’m very grateful to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation’s Electronic Monitoring and Reporting Grant Program, which, along with the Kingfisher Foundation, have provided the lion’s share of funding for EM4Fish over four grant cycles. Their support has enabled us to remain non-commercial and to cover this rapidly evolving and sometimes competitive sector through an unbiased lens.
Special thanks to everyone who has contributed an article to the website over these years. De-siloing has always been the underlying purpose of EM4Fish, and we very much appreciate you taking the time to share your work with the rest of us.
Which brings me to the next feature coming to EM4Fish, an interactive world map of EM programs. Created by the ICES Working Group on Technology Integration for Fishery-Dependent Data, the map will contain detailed drill-down information on dozens of EM programs worldwide. We’re honored to host this new tool—coming soon!— and hope you find it useful.
A quick personal note. Fifty-two years ago I wrapped up a hitchhiking trip in Alaska with ten cents and no plan. Luckily for me I found a job on a purse seiner and my life has revolved around fish and the ocean ever since. I’m grateful beyond measure for all the places and friends I’ve found along the way. The photo above was taken by one of those friends in Bristol Bay, where I was deeply fortunate to spend 15 seasons.
And speaking of friends, I hope to remain in touch with many of you as I shift my focus in a new direction soon; still about seafood and monitoring, but coming at it from a different angle.
Thanks again, everybody. Fish people are happy people, so keep up the great work!
– Scott
