The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council uses its Something’s Fishy tool to gather feedback from fishermen on what’s happening on the water with our fish stocks. The tool is deployed for each fish that is undergoing a stock assessment. Responses are shared with assessment scientists, the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee, and the Gulf Council itself. Sharing the tool with each group ensures that your on-the-water perspective is considered along with the fisheries science when management measures are proposed. Check out our Something’s Fishy webpage for examples of past efforts.
The tool has proven itself to be very useful to scientists and fishery managers, but the name of the tool seems to be a bit more controversial than we intended. People have expressed concern that the Gulf Council is only looking to gather negative feedback because the name may imply that something is wrong with the stock. That is certainly not their intention so, they’re considering renaming the tool to ensure that the name more accurately reflects their desire to gather general on-the-water perspectives from the fishing and diving community about each species.
Please help them come up with a new name! Suggestions collected through this re-naming contest will be reviewed by the Council’s Outreach and Educational Technical Committee and a winner will be chosen. The submitter of the winning response will receive a gift bag containing a variety of Gulf Council goods. Responses are due by 5:00 pm, eastern time on November 5, 2021.
