Presentation Abstract
Rockfish are a long-lived group of fishes susceptible to overfishing. Rockfish conservation initiatives are currently hindered by a lack of fine scale population data. However, the abundance of recreational divers represents an untapped resource, ready to be deployed as citizen scientists in the Salish Sea. A potential issue is that the reliability of citizen scientist-generated SCUBA data is not known, particularly when those data are collected across gradients of diver competencies and diving conditions. To evaluate the reliability of citizen science data, pairs of divers of varying levels of experience identified and enumerated the number of individual finfish along predetermined transects. Divers also provided information about their competency (including diving experience, training and fish identification ability). The finfish counts, environmental conditions of each dive, and diver competency data were then analyzed to illuminate which elements significantly contribute to data reliability. As expected, diver competency is an important predictor of data quality, however, Scientific Diver certification under the Canadian Association of Underwater Science does not predict data quality. This finding, among others, provides important and actionable guidance for ensuring data quality in citizen science scuba survey programs and their use for long term monitoring of marine species of conservation concern such as Rockfish.
Session Title
Recovery and Monitoring for ESA-listed Rockfish and Habitats in the Salish Sea
Conference Track
SSE11: Species and Food Webs
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE11-118
Start Date
4-4-2018 4:00 PM
End Date
4-4-2018 4:15 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Striped bass--Monitoring--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Scuba diving--Environmental aspects--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
Can sport SCUBA divers provide reliable data for Rockfish conservation?
Rockfish are a long-lived group of fishes susceptible to overfishing. Rockfish conservation initiatives are currently hindered by a lack of fine scale population data. However, the abundance of recreational divers represents an untapped resource, ready to be deployed as citizen scientists in the Salish Sea. A potential issue is that the reliability of citizen scientist-generated SCUBA data is not known, particularly when those data are collected across gradients of diver competencies and diving conditions. To evaluate the reliability of citizen science data, pairs of divers of varying levels of experience identified and enumerated the number of individual finfish along predetermined transects. Divers also provided information about their competency (including diving experience, training and fish identification ability). The finfish counts, environmental conditions of each dive, and diver competency data were then analyzed to illuminate which elements significantly contribute to data reliability. As expected, diver competency is an important predictor of data quality, however, Scientific Diver certification under the Canadian Association of Underwater Science does not predict data quality. This finding, among others, provides important and actionable guidance for ensuring data quality in citizen science scuba survey programs and their use for long term monitoring of marine species of conservation concern such as Rockfish.
