By Emma Fass, Summer Science Writing Intern
Nothing in life is certain, but Lisa Ailloud says in stock assessment, uncertainty poses problems.
“Uncertainties in scientific advice are often used by stakeholders and managers to argue for different management options,” says Ailloud. “We therefore aim to reduce uncertainty wherever possible and provide managers with the tools necessary to make informed decisions on how best to manage each stock.”
To help develop more certainty, Ailloud will begin research as a Sea Grant-National Marine Fisheries Service Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Fellowship in August. She will investigate the issues scientists face in trying to conduct stock assessments for long-distance migrating fish. These highly migratory fish are typically riddled with uncertainty because they are difficult and costly to study, which in turn makes it difficult for scientists to estimate even the most basic population characteristics such as growth.
Part of Ailloud’s research will focus on minimizing uncertainty in procedures that are routinely used in stock assessments. One species she will look at is the Western Atlantic Bluefin tuna, an overfished stock in the rebuilding process. In 2010, the growth curve used to assess this stock changed, and Ailloud will research whether this change affected the assessment results. She will also address improving uses of available data and will create a simulation to evaluate potential solutions to rebuilding the closely related and severely depleted Pacific Bluefin tuna stock.
Through this fellowship, Ailloud will continue to work toward her goal of working with fisheries stock assessment.
“At some point in my career, I hope to get involved with data-poor stocks, improving current assessment techniques and coming up with new low-cost assessment methods,” Ailloud says.
Ailloud graduated summa cum laude from American University in 2010 with degrees in marine science and environmental studies. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Fisheries Science at Virginia Institute of Marine Science and is also taking a concentration of courses in mathematical modeling.
