Sampling Programs - Design and Implementation

2017 - 2019

Puerto Rico Port Sampling And Catch Validation Project

2014 - 2016

US Caribbean Port Sampling/Catch Validation Survey Design and Pilot Project

In 2014, Mer visited over 100 landings sites in Puerto Rico and over 45 in the United States Virgin Islands to estimated relative usage by interviews. In 2014 and 2015, we conducted a pilot study on in both the USVI and Puerto Rico to determine variance structure and the samples necessary to achieve target precision in our estimates.

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2010

In 2010, Todd Gedamke was funded by the Coral Reef Conservation Program to conduct a full – shelf comprehensive and cooperative trap survey. Two complimentary statistical designs were used: 1) a classic statistical based stratified random design (SRD) and 2) a model based approach we called the spatial optimal Design (SOD: developed by John Walter) to fill in gaps in the random allocation of SRD sites.

The SOD employed a novel algorithm that searched over a spatial grid that covered the entire fishable shelf of St. Croix. The algorithm iteratively identifies the location that would best fill in the spatial gaps of the existing samples, then assuming that this location has been added to the sample set, selects another location, and so on until our financially feasible target of 600 total stations was reached.