REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH ... - Iccat

SUB-COM STATISTICSREPORT OF THE 2008 MEETING OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON STATISTICS(Madrid, Spain - September 22-23, 2008)Appendix 81. Opening, adoption of Agenda and meeting arrangementsThe Sub-Committee on Statistics met on September 22 and 23, 2008 at the offices of the ICCAT Secretariat. Themeeting was chaired by Dr. Mauricio Ortiz (United States); Dr. Guillermo Diaz (Unites States) served asRapporteur. The Agenda (Addendum 1 to Appendix 8) was adopted with minor changes. The Chair reiteratedthe importance for the Chairs of all Species Working Groups to be present at this meeting. Unfortunately, thisyear not all Working Groups were represented. The Sub-Committee recommended that the Chairs name arepresentative delegate if it is not possible for them to be present.2. Review prior recommendations and actions resultingThe meeting started with a review of last year sub-committee recommendations and the actions resulted in 2008.The Secretariat informed that its Report on Statistics and Coordination of Research 2008 included resultingactions of most of the recommendations adopted in 2008. Request regarding purchases and upgrades ofcomputer and software for the Secretariat were fulfilled and/or are in the process to be. The Sub-Committeerecommended that an additional server dedicated exclusively to large complex model (e.g., Multifan-CL)applications that can be easily access from meetings outside Madrid (VPN connection) be purchased. TheSecretariat informed that some of the purchases related to improvement of wireless access for meetings has beenpostponed pending the Secretariat’s move to a new building that potentially has already this infrastructure. TheGroup agreed with this action, but recommended that if the transfer is further delayed to acquire the upgradesoftware and hardware for improving the wireless access during the meetings. The Group also recommended thatsoftware requested last year (S-Plus) and not yet acquired be purchased.The Secretariat also informed that during 2008 two new staff member were hired. One database expert was hiredto take over the VMS database. It was pointed out that the VMS database does not require 100% of the staff’stime and that he could collaborate with other tasks in the Statistics group. As requested by the SCRS andapproved by the Commission, a data manager was also hired to work on bluefin tuna catch documentation. Insummary, these new hired staff will be in charge of statistical data management. However, their support will bedependent on the work load associated with compliance issues (VMS and BFT catch documentation). The Sub-Committee indicated that the Secretariat still needs personnel to work exclusively on scientific support roles. Itwas noted that the ICCAT Independent Review (Hurry et al. 2008 1 ) also pointed out to the need of more staffdedicated to science support. It was discussed that personnel working on compliance issues might not necessarilyhave the training to do science support work. The Secretariat indicated that a recommendation with a moredetailed description of the background of the needed staff should be provided for the hiring process.In reference to last year’s recommendation number three: “The Sub-Committee recommended prioritizing thefull documentation of the ICCAT database…” the Secretariat informed that some work has been done. But,given the increased number of inter-sessional meetings and the shortage of staff, there is still a lot of workpending. The Group and the Secretariat considers this task is of great importance, and reiterates its priorityduring the upcoming year’s work-plan. Other recommendations from last year included the coordination meetingbetween the Secretariat and U.S. scientists regarding the transfer protocols for the tagging database. The resultsof this recommendation are presented later on this report (Section 3.1). The Secretariat also informed that theICCAT web page was redesigned in 2008 and it has been translated into the three official languages of theCommission.3. Issues regarding statistical and biological data submitted in 20083.1 Task I and Task IIThe Secretariat presented its Report on Statistics and Coordination of Research that summarized the submissionof data since the last SCRS meeting up to September 2008. It was noted that there was an increase in the1 G.D. Hurry, M. Hayashi and J. J. Maguire. 2008. Report of the Independent Review of the International Commission for the Conservationof Atlantic Tunas.205