The NOAA Fisheries Toolbox is a collection of software
programs which can
be used in fishery stock assessments.
Many of the models are used in peer-reviewed stock
assessments in the U.S. and globally.
Each
program is a stand-alone Windows desktop application and combines a
sophisticated graphical interface with an independent calculation
engine.
Having
the calculation engine separate from the user interface is useful in a
number of ways. Model development is enhanced by allowing the developer
to use whatever tools or programming languages best fit the problem. In
addition, graphic interfaces can be designed to have a consistent look
and feel across the spectrum of Toolbox programs while at the same time
allowing enough flexibility to handle data manipulation and display in
the most efficient manner. For further details and more in-depth
technical information, go to our page describing the Toolbox Design.
Graphic Interface Features
You
can enter and edit data, run the model, view and copy output data and
plots all within the same graphical data management environment. This
interface eliminates the need to hand-edit ASCII text files.
Large
amounts of tabular data can be entered by copying from spreadsheets and
pasting into data grids in the graphic interface.
Plots
of model results are generated automatically. Plots can be saved to
your computer one at a time or entire groups of plots can be exported
as bitmap files in batch mode.
Data from model results can quickly be copied from the
graphic
interface and pasted into other applications such as spreadsheets for
further analysis. Some models can export model results in a format that
can be read into the R
software environment without the need for further conversion.
The NOAA Fisheries Toolbox is directed by NOAA Fisheries' Office of Science and
Technology. A committee, chaired by Dr. Richard
Methot
and consisting of representatives from each Sciences Center, provides
oversight. The Toolbox's principal programmers are located at the
Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
For related information please see the Office of Science and
Technology's description of NOAA Fisheries’ Stock
Assessment Program.
You
can enter and edit data, run the model, view and copy output data and
plots all within the same graphical data management environment. This
interface eliminates the need to hand-edit ASCII text files.