A Year of Monitoring, by the Numbers

In 2010, monitoring costs in the Area A crab fishery had increased to the point of unaffordability. Looking for alternatives, the Area A crab fleet came to us with a challenge: build a low-cost, high-value electronic monitoring system in time for the next fishing season, just six months away.

Needless to say, we met that challenge.

Since 2011, we’ve been the monitoring service provider for Area A, continuously working with the fleet to improve our systems and respond to their needs.

The 2015 season was no different. From January to December, our staff were hard at work providing affordable, effective data collection – and lots of it!

Fishing is already a tough business. By offering economic alternatives to the status quo, we’re revitalizing the industry by supporting small-scale fleets and the communities they sustain.

Mike Bryniarski joined our team in November as a Systems Analyst, supporting our many electronic monitoring programs’ hardware and software needs. With degrees in biology and math and a background in computer science, Mike has a keen interest in the meeting of life science and technology. 

“I love the wide range of social, economic, and technological problems that our team deals with on a daily basis.”

"The EM program is a really cool way of collecting reliable data for fisheries managers while staying out of fishermen’s way and letting them do what they need to do."

Without that push from the Area A fishermen back in 2010, we never would have gotten involved in fisheries monitoring. Today, our Marine Monitoring Initiative includes electronic and Observer-based monitoring and is influencing fisheries policy and improving monitoring standards in the US and Canada.

And that’s really what amazes me about Ecotrust Canada: its ability to find the cracks of opportunity and optimism in complex issues, then innovate, develop, and wedge the crack open further.

I am thrilled to be joining such a dynamic group of innovators and change-makers, and I can’t wait to support this team in achieving real progress in environmental sustainability and economic opportunities.

With thanks,