American
Fisheries Society
Computer User Section
Software Review
Program: FAST
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American
Fisheries Society Software Review |
Program: FAST |
Program Title: Fishery
Analyses and Simulation Tools (FAST) Version: 2.0
Program Date: July 2000 Program Cost: $75.
Developers: Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquaculture, Auburn University,
Alabama
Program Description: Analytical tools for computation of stock density
and relative weight, growth statistics, mortality, and recruitment, and for
modeling populations and fisheries using these parameters.
Reviewed: November, 2000; Updated April 2008
Contact/Author(s):
Jeffrey Slipke and Mike Maceina
e-mail: jslipke@sepond.com
Note: Support is limited to technical issues regarding loading and running the FAST software. Regrettably, we cannot offer statistical support on issues such as model development, parameter estimation, and output interpretation.
Program Strengths: A user-friendly population modeling program. Greatest utility will be as an educational tool. Can be used by fishery managers to provide a standardized format for common analyses. These analyses include the utilities for calculating PSD, RSD and Von Bertalanffy growth parameters. The authors might consider pulling those components out and writing a second program to calculate "routine" fishery statistics (similar to the older FishCalc program available from AFSCUS). They’ve got the hard part built already and such a program would be attractive to a much wider audience.
Other strengths include the CD which includes installation routines, user manual, example files and publications on the subject. This is very thorough and simplifies use of the program significantly.
Program Weaknesses: The greatest difficulty I had with the program was remembering all the parameters. While I was sitting in their class it made sense. The longer it was since the class, the more difficulty I had recalling the various inputs. It would really help if the program had some context-sensitive help (i.e., right click on any input box and it pops up a message box with a description of that variable, how it fits into the model and possibly reference a page in the users manual for more information). Compatibility with Windows Vista is not going to be resolved anytime soon.
The user manual is nice, but it really isn’t a "how-to" run the program. Instead it is a step through of some examples. It would benefit from a simple flow chart of how the program works and how to run it. Pretty easy to start with one of their examples and walk through it. It is harder to start from scratch with your own data. I would suggest a "plain English" description of each screen, sequence to run through that screen and the options available (i.e., sometimes you can get to the same point a couple different ways and sometimes it is very important to do step a before step b). An index with reference to the terms and parameters sprinkled throughout the program would help, also. This would make it faster to use the program and manual together.
Computer OS Compatibility: Operated on Windows 95/98/2000 platforms with no problems. A separate Windows NT version is available. Some incompatability problems have been noted with Windows Vista; missing DLL problems cause program to crash.
Program Requirements: The only requirement is Adobe Acrobat Reader, since this is necessary to read some of the supporting documents provided on the CD.
Hardware Compatibility: (X) IBM Compatible ( ) Macintosh ( ) Apple ( ) Other _________________________
Hardware Requirements: Manual specifies 10MB free on hard disk. Comes on a CD-ROM, thus a CD-ROM drive is required.
Configuration Used by Reviewers: 1) Win 2000, 650 Mhz Pentium III, 128 MB ram, Gateway solo laptop. 2) Win 95 system.
Documentation: (X) Printed (130 pgs) (X) pdf ( ) On-Line
Subject Area:
(X) Management (X) Population Dynamics (X) Modeling
( ) Culture (X) Age and Growth (X) Education
( ) Systematics ( ) Population Estimation ( ) Administration
( ) Habitat ( ) Economics ( ) Other ___________________________
Availability: ( ) Public Domain ( X ) Proprietary/Commercial
Accuracy of Calculations:
(
) Good ( ) Bad ( X ) Untested (
) Not Applicable
Review Scores:
| CATEGORY |
SCORE |
COMMENTS |
| Ease of Installation |
9 |
Very nice, easy to install. |
| Operating System Environment |
5 |
Win 95/98/2000/XP, and Win NT4.0. Early problem with the graphics module (Olectra Chart 6.0) and NT. The authors have resolved FAST compatibility with NT. Not compatible with Vista. |
| User Interface |
6 |
Excellent, very user friendly, easy to move around. Biggest difficulty was knowing where to move to. The interface is not always intuitive and can be hard to follow. |
| Help Facility |
0 |
It needs one. That would make an already good program into a top-notch program by any measure. |
| Documentation |
8 |
Very good manual, see earlier comments about user potential improvements. |
| Learning Curve |
4 |
Not bad when you go to a class. But hard once you get back into the office to remember all those parameters. They provide the information but some is hard or time consuming to digest. Will be particularly difficult for managers who have never modeled or those who have been away from college for a while. |
| Ease of Use |
6 |
The point and click interface is great. But sometimes hard to know which sequence or what to do next. The manual helps but could be better and built-in help is also needed. |
| Education Value |
10 |
An excellent learning tool. I think most educators teaching fishery science would appreciate this tool. Other modeling programs may be better for comparing options. |
| Productivity Potential |
7 |
The inclusion in a single program of standard parameter calculations (PSD, RSD, VB, etc. is a definite time saver. |
| Examples |
9 |
Excellent, one of the strengths of the package. Not only do they include data and worked out examples, they also include publications to support the examples. |
| Usefulness to Fisheries Scientists |
8 |
Incredibly useful for those relatively few individuals who want to do this sort of modeling. Should also really be useful for those teaching fishery science and management at the university level. Could be more useful with more fisheries parameters. |
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OVERALL RATING |
7 |
* Use 1 to 10 rating scales: 1 = bad; 5 = average or acceptable; 10 = great.
Incorporate into AFSCUS Library: (X) Yes ( ) No
General Comments: This is an excellent program that will be well received by those interested in modeling- for those folks it will be greatly appreciated. Another reviewer noted it could become a standard analysis package for fisheries parameters; used by managers it could take the place of various macros and programs now used. A single package such as this would eliminate problems of credibility and ease comparisons.
Send comments or questions about the program to Jeff Slipke
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Copyright
2008, |
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