Source of Left Photo: PIRO

Silver Spring, MD July 2021:

IBSS was awarded a task with NOAA’s Pacific Islands Region Observer (PIRO) Program to provide debriefer support under the ProTech Fisheries Domain contract. IBSS debriefers review and validate commercial fleet catch and protected species interaction data from over 380 observed trips per year in the Hawaii and American Samoa longline (tuna) and shallow set (swordfish) fisheries within the US Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific region.

PIRO works toward the conservation and management of domestic and international marine resources by integrating science with management and policy decision-making. The data IBSS’s debriefers help verify is used by NOAA’s Fisheries Service, the Hawaii Longline Association, the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, academia, non-government entities, and global partners to monitor fish stocks, safeguard protected and endangered species, and ensure that the Hawaii commercial longline fleet remains one of the most sustainable fisheries in the nation. ;

IBSS will support PIRO’s mission to NOAA by:

Providing qualified, experienced debriefers to receive and validate the accuracy of fisheries and protected species observer data obtained from commercial longline tuna vesselsEnsuring biological samples are stored and transferred safely to NOAA for analysis in support of fisheries researchAssisting in developing training materials for future observers

As a trusted NOAA partner for over 20 years, IBSS looks forward to our continued delivery of innovative science-meets-technology solutions that forward the NOAA mission and make NOAA’s science matter to constituents both at home and abroad.