Research vessel practices shape deep ocean governance

Abstract Scientific research vessels produce vital data for marine science and fisheries management, yet the social dimensions of data production at sea remain underexplored. Drawing on participant observation, interviews, and workshops, we employ practice theory to examine how scientific data are produced on research vessels. We find that research cruises contain four key complexes of practices: searching, retrieving, sorting, and datafication. We zoom in on three examples to show how the routinized practices performed on research vessels can embed certain ways of knowing the ocean into primary data about the deep ocean. In this case, discarding practices render certain organisms invisible, which has the effect of reproducing the single-species management paradigm while investigating a potential mesopelagic fishery. Zooming out shows how research vessel work connects to and reinforces existing analytical, commercial, and management practices. The selections and omissions that result from the routine nature of at-sea work fundamentally shape scientific understanding of the deep ocean, which in turn informs and determines future governance decisions. Finally, this framework and methodology demonstrate how interdisciplinary approaches can identify small realignments in scientific practices that can enhance research vessel work and adapt to rapidly changing knowledge needs.