Primary Contact
abigail.tyrell@noaa.gov
Choose a tech doc page to suggest edits
21 Forage Fish Indices
Page Edit 1
Update contact information:
Data steward: Abigail Tyrell abigail.tyrell@noaa.gov
Point of contact: Abigail Tyrell abigail.tyrell@noaa.gov
Page Edit 2 (if applicable)
Sections: 26.1.3.3 VAST Input Dataset and 26.1.3.4 VAST modeling
Combine these into one section, text below to replace existing text:
VAST Input Dataset and Modeling
Diets from all 22 piscivores (including bluefish) were combined for the 21 forage fish (bluefish prey) groups at each surveyed location, and the mean weight of forage fish per predator stomach at each location was calculated. Data for each station included station ID, year, season, date, latitude, longitude, vessel, mean bluefish prey weight (g), mean piscivore length (cm), number of piscivore species, and sea surface temperature (degrees C). Because approximately 10% of survey stations were missing in-situ sea water temperature measurements, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (NOAA OI SST) V2 High Resolution Dataset (Reynolds et al. 2007) data provided by the NOAA PSL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their website at https://psl.noaa.gov/ were used to fill gaps. For survey stations with in-situ temperature measurements, the in-situ measurement was retained. For survey stations with missing temperature data, OI SST was substituted for input into VAST models. VAST model approaches, model selection, and bias correction are described in detail in Gaichas et al. (2023).
Note that the years referenced in the sections below refer to the year in which the SOE was published, not the terminal year of the data.
2023
The 2023 SOE dataset input to VAST is available at this link.
2024-2025
The 2024 and 2025 updates to the forage index submitted to the State of the Ecosystem report is in the forageindex github repository: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex
The 2024 SOE dataset input to VAST is available at this link. Data input files are in the folder fhdat and were processed with the script VASTforage_ProcessInputDat.R in that folder: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex/blob/main/fhdat/VASTforage_ProcessInputDat.R
VAST models were run using this script: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex/blob/main/VASTscripts/VASTunivariate_seasonalforageindex_operational.R
Model output was saved in the folder SOEpyindex for three different time series options: 1973-2022, 1982-2022, and 1985-2022.
2026
The 2026 update to the forage index submitted to the State of the Ecosystem report is available here: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/tree/main/forage
Data were processed with this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/01_process_input_data.R
The VAST models were run with this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/02_run_model.R
Page Edit 3 (if applicable)
Sections: 26.1.3.5 Spatial Forage Indices and 26.1.3.6 Forage Center of Gravity
New text to replace existing text:
Spatial Forage Indices
Note that the years referenced in the sections below refer to the year in which the SOE was published, not the terminal year of the data.
2024-2025
The script to create the 2024 and 2025 SOE forage indices from the VAST output is in the SOEpyindex folder: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex/blob/main/SOEpyindex/SOE-VASTForageIndices.R
2026
The code to create the 2025 SOE forage indices from the VAST output is at the end of this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/02_run_model.R
Forage Center of Gravity
Center of Gravity is a standard output of VAST models. Forage center of gravity indices were introduced in the 2024 SOE from the same model as the forage indices. Note that the years referenced in the sections below refer to the year in which the SOE was published, not the terminal year of the data.
2024-2025
Code to extract the center of gravity from the 2024 and 2025 VAST output is at https://noaa-edab.github.io/forageindex/SOEforageindex.html#5_Center_of_gravity_exploration, along with visualizations of the center of gravity indicator for spring and fall models.
2026
The code to create the 2025 SOE center of gravity from the VAST output is at the end of this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/02_run_model.R
Primary Contact
abigail.tyrell@noaa.gov
Choose a tech doc page to suggest edits
21 Forage Fish Indices
Page Edit 1
Update contact information:
Data steward: Abigail Tyrell abigail.tyrell@noaa.gov
Point of contact: Abigail Tyrell abigail.tyrell@noaa.gov
Page Edit 2 (if applicable)
Sections: 26.1.3.3 VAST Input Dataset and 26.1.3.4 VAST modeling
Combine these into one section, text below to replace existing text:
VAST Input Dataset and Modeling
Diets from all 22 piscivores (including bluefish) were combined for the 21 forage fish (bluefish prey) groups at each surveyed location, and the mean weight of forage fish per predator stomach at each location was calculated. Data for each station included station ID, year, season, date, latitude, longitude, vessel, mean bluefish prey weight (g), mean piscivore length (cm), number of piscivore species, and sea surface temperature (degrees C). Because approximately 10% of survey stations were missing in-situ sea water temperature measurements, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature (NOAA OI SST) V2 High Resolution Dataset (Reynolds et al. 2007) data provided by the NOAA PSL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their website at https://psl.noaa.gov/ were used to fill gaps. For survey stations with in-situ temperature measurements, the in-situ measurement was retained. For survey stations with missing temperature data, OI SST was substituted for input into VAST models. VAST model approaches, model selection, and bias correction are described in detail in Gaichas et al. (2023).
Note that the years referenced in the sections below refer to the year in which the SOE was published, not the terminal year of the data.
2023
The 2023 SOE dataset input to VAST is available at this link.
2024-2025
The 2024 and 2025 updates to the forage index submitted to the State of the Ecosystem report is in the forageindex github repository: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex
The 2024 SOE dataset input to VAST is available at this link. Data input files are in the folder fhdat and were processed with the script VASTforage_ProcessInputDat.R in that folder: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex/blob/main/fhdat/VASTforage_ProcessInputDat.R
VAST models were run using this script: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex/blob/main/VASTscripts/VASTunivariate_seasonalforageindex_operational.R
Model output was saved in the folder SOEpyindex for three different time series options: 1973-2022, 1982-2022, and 1985-2022.
2026
The 2026 update to the forage index submitted to the State of the Ecosystem report is available here: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/tree/main/forage
Data were processed with this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/01_process_input_data.R
The VAST models were run with this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/02_run_model.R
Page Edit 3 (if applicable)
Sections: 26.1.3.5 Spatial Forage Indices and 26.1.3.6 Forage Center of Gravity
New text to replace existing text:
Spatial Forage Indices
Note that the years referenced in the sections below refer to the year in which the SOE was published, not the terminal year of the data.
2024-2025
The script to create the 2024 and 2025 SOE forage indices from the VAST output is in the SOEpyindex folder: https://github.com/NOAA-EDAB/forageindex/blob/main/SOEpyindex/SOE-VASTForageIndices.R
2026
The code to create the 2025 SOE forage indices from the VAST output is at the end of this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/02_run_model.R
Forage Center of Gravity
Center of Gravity is a standard output of VAST models. Forage center of gravity indices were introduced in the 2024 SOE from the same model as the forage indices. Note that the years referenced in the sections below refer to the year in which the SOE was published, not the terminal year of the data.
2024-2025
Code to extract the center of gravity from the 2024 and 2025 VAST output is at https://noaa-edab.github.io/forageindex/SOEforageindex.html#5_Center_of_gravity_exploration, along with visualizations of the center of gravity indicator for spring and fall models.
2026
The code to create the 2025 SOE center of gravity from the VAST output is at the end of this script: https://github.com/NEFSC/READ-EDAB-VAST_indices/blob/main/forage/2025_dev/02_run_model.R