Roffer’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, Inc. (www.roffs.com) West Melbourne, Florida USA has updated its product line which continues to shows why they remain the leader in providing cost effective oceanographic products for the fishing industry. The original product “ROFFS™ Fishing Forecasting Analysis” remains their best known product and is used worldwide by numerous companies fishing for tuna, swordfish, squid, and pilchard. The “ROFFS™ Fishing Forecasting Analysis” is a combination of a sea surface temperature ocean frontal analysis, and fish finding map that includes a full page text. The products are used to locate productive fishing grounds and avoid areas that are mostly likely to be unproductive. The map provides a reproduction of the ocean conditions that the staff fisheries oceanographers observe and expect you to find during your fishing trip. The analysis is the result of studying the ocean conditions for several days using a variety of space satellites, buoys and other data collection platforms. The text portion is truly unique. As subtle changes in the ocean conditions often have great consequences when locating fish, it provides details on the locations and conditions that will be particularly productive. The product has been so successful in the Spanish tuna purse seining industry off Africa that their clients have stopped using helicopters for spotting. The best areas are clearly indicated based on 26 years of research and development. The favored areas are marked as “hot spot” dots. The number of days that the favorable conditions exist are indicated inside the dots. The longer the conditions are favorable, the greater chance of finding concentrations of fish. The files sizes of the analyses are small and thus, cost effective for satellite email transmission. These products allows the captains and fishing masters to make educated decisions at sea and reducing the risk of going the wrong direction and losing valuable time. They are logical to use and do not require expensive or sophisticated computer hardware or software. These operational forecast products are all available in color via email or black and white via standard office facsimile machine.
Some of the new products that complement the original may include (depending on your area of interest):
ROFF
S™ Sea Surface Current Analysis: A map of the real-time ocean currents which includes the location of the ocean frontal boundaries. This product is derived from sea surface height measurements taken from satellite altimetry.
ROFFS™ Sea Surface Temperature Forecast (three day and five day): Depicts the predicted sea surface temperature field after 72 hours and 120 hours based on state of-the science oceanographic forecasting models. These forecasts are used as a guide to the changes in the location of the water masses and the ocean frontal boundaries.
ROFFS™ Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly Product: A monthly product that illustrates the difference between the current monthly mean sea surface temperature and the climatological mean. It is useful in understanding the dynamics of the catch and for planning purposes.
ROFFS™ 200 Meter and 500 Meter Depth Temperature Product: Show the subsurface water temperature. This helps determine where the fish are vulnerable to the fishing gear. Also important for understanding regional scale ocean circulation dynamics.
ROFFS™ Mixed Layer Depth Product: Shows the depth of the thermocline that indicates the bottom of the surface mixed layer. Used to determine the vulnerability of the fish to the fishing gear.
Mitchell A. Roffer (Ph.D.) President, reports that “the fishing forecasting analyses have been so successful that they are a well protected secret in the industry”. He feels that they are “too secret” and ROFFS™ has changed their marketing strategy. The company is now searching for additional sales representatives overseas. Please send an email to fish6@roffs.com if your are interested. They are particularly looking for people experienced with satellite communications and marine electronics.
