PORTLAND (AP) – Ocean scientists from around the country are meeting at a two-day conference to discuss building a marine data collection system that would be shared around the country.

The national network would be a greatly expanded version of the system that now provides oceanographic and weather information in the Gulf of Maine. The Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System, or GoMOOS, is a collection of buoys, satellites and radar systems that take measurements of wind speed, waves, temperatures, salinity, fog and even sea smoke.

Ultimately there could be 10 or more regional networks within the national system. Each region would adhere to national standards for sharing data, but also cater to its own research needs.

“The national system would be an underwater analog of the National Weather Service,” said Philip Bogden, chief executive officer of GoMOOS.

GoMOOS is considered the leader in ocean observation systems, although Alaska has a well-developed network as well. Most other programs around the nation are still in their infancy.

Information gathered by GoMOOS is provided free to scientists, fishermen, search-and-rescue teams, marine resource managers and others who need to know what conditions are like on the ocean at any given time.

To share information, the different programs will have to speak the same language. Researchers have been working on such a plan for the national system over the past year and will talking about the plan Thursday and Friday at a workshop at the Holiday Inn by the Bay.

About 60 scientists from multiple federal agencies and research institutions are expected to attend the workshop, which is sponsored by GoMOOS and the University of Maine’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

Larry Atkinson of Ocean.US, a group of scientists in Arlington, Va. who are coordinating the development of a national network, said each system will have to be tailored to meet the needs of their particular regions.

“The Gulf of Mexico may be more concerned about oil spill risk analysis and the shrimp fishery,” Atkinson said. “The mid-Atlantic may be more recreational and marine transportation, and the west coast may be more salmon fishing management. So it’s going to vary from area to area.”

Atkinson said that as the regional ocean observing systems address their own needs, they’ll come up with new ideas and technologies that can be shared with other programs around the country.

On the west coast, for example, researchers are tagging and monitoring salmon using innovative techniques that could one day help track fisheries elsewhere.

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