Introduction

Chapter Objectives

1. Address sampling techniques and fish measurements.
2. Provide guidance on estimating catch amount and other recording.
3. Review scientific tag types and retrieval protocol.

Though observer duties are similar across the tuna RFMOs, the various national and regional observer programs can have different nomenclature, data fields, and reporting methods. It is the observers’ responsibility to ensure that they understand which specific data they need to collect and how it should be logged. This chapter will briefly review the primary sampling tasks of an observer, which are a universal component of any tuna purse seine observer program.