PacFIN Brief for 2008

[Complete 2008 PSMFC Annual Report (8.52 MB pdf)]

The Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN) is the nation's first regional fisheries data network. Funded by a grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), PacFIN is a joint federal and state project focused on fisheries data collection and information management. PacFIN provides timely and accurate data to aid effective management of fisheries and fishery resources.

In 2008, the PacFIN Office processed 432 data feeds from eight data sources and responded to at least 108 requests-for-information. There were 619,313 visits to the PacFIN website for an average of 51,609 visits per month. Various selections of standard PacFIN reports were generated weekly or monthly and uploaded to the PSMFC and PacFIN website.

Following are highlights of PacFIN central office activities in 2008:

Quota Species Monitoring (QSM) Subsystem

Code changes were made to handle changes to the source data from the NORPAC database for the At-Sea Whiting fishery.

Internal System Upgrades

Internal System Upgrades related to maintaining the success of current production applications were performed. These activities are supportive in nature and included database performance improvements, new production automation and retrieval scripts, new documentation and metadata.

System Server Migration

PacFIN and PSMFC HQ staff completed the migration of the central database to the PSMFC “prowfish” server, a Linux OS and Oracle database platform maintained in the PSMFC Portland office. All PacFIN user schema, Oracle objects and Unix files were imported to the prowfish server. User account system settings were modified for the Linux OS and Oracle 10g environments. All production activity is now running on the prowfish server. The PacFIN office, with support from PSMFC HQ, is now managing the Linux OS, and Oracle database environment, including backup and maintenance.

PacFIN staff also worked with federal data sources to implement data acquisition systems to replace existing database links. This migration project was a major undertaking, involving a number of PSMFC staff, and the support of NMFS/OFIS staff. Thanks to Gary Shaw (Director - OFIS) and Kathleen Hurlbert (Sys. Admin/Oracle DBA - OFIS) for their efforts to assist PacFIN in making the migration as smooth as possible.

Limited Entry Permit Data Acquisition

A new data acquisition protocol was developed in coordination with the NWR Limited Entry Permits (LEP) office in order to reinstate a weekly refresh of federal LEP data in the PacFIN database. The new protocol was developed to replace the select and insert data capture via database link following the migration of the LEP database to a new SQL Server environment.

PacFIN User Support

PacFIN staff spent a considerable amount of time working with clients making the move to the new prowfish server environment and to make the new Linux environmental changes as transparent to the end user as possible.

LE Trawl Permit Data Requests

PacFIN staff worked with representatives from WDFW, ODFW, CDFG, PFMC and NMFS/NWR to develop retrieval programs to allow state agency staff to respond to requests from individual Limited Entry Trawl permit holders for historical catch by permit, using data from PacFIN. These requests relate to the ongoing PFMC effort to develop an Individual Trawl Quota (ITQ) system for the Limited Entry Trawl fleet.

Workstation and networking upgrades

PSMFC contractor, Tech Heads, was on site to upgrade all three PacFIN central office workstations, adding memory, new software and software upgrades. New external drives were added for automated daily backups. In addition, the PacFIN central office was moved to a new network domain, independent of the federal "AFSC" domain network and protected by an internal firewall. All of these changes have improved flexibility and access to desktop support from the PSMFC HQ office in Portland.

Internal address/phone book database

Client phone and address information was imported into a newly developed MS-Access database. This project included some research to revise or remove older entries.

Staff Changes

In June, the Analyst/Programmer left the PacFIN office to pursue a new career opportunity. A recruiting process for both an Analyst/Programmer and Data Management Specialist was conducted during this reporting cycle and culminated with interviews of the top 10 candidates in August. Jean Olson joined the PacFIN central office on September 16, 2008, filling the Data Management Specialist position. The recruiting process did not facilitate the hiring of an Analyst Programmer as hoped. In lieu of a full time programmer, an Oracle Developer frequently used by the PacFIN project in the past was put on contract. The search for a staff Analyst/Programmer will continue into the next reporting cycle.

Training

The Data Management Specialist completed a 5 day Introduction to SQL course provided by Oracle Corporation as well as online courses for an introduction to the Linux OS.

Meetings and Seminars

The Program Manager attended the PSMFC Fiscal Departments Workshops, March 13-14, 2008 at PSMFC HQ in Portland.

The Data Management Specialist and the Program Manager attended the PCFDC meeting, November 12-13, 2008 in Portland.

The PacFIN office hosted multiple meetings with NMFS/HQ staff during this reporting period to discuss ways to enhance and improve reporting systems for various federal data projects, including the federal vessel buyback accounting program, FIS, and various federal reporting requirements, including the Fisheries of the US (FUS) annual report.