It collects various data sets from the data that fishermen are required to report. This enables it to monitor the catch and to make sure that fisheries quotas are not exceeded. This reduces the risk of catastrophic collapses of fisheries.

It issues reports on the health of the fisheries and issues manuals so the fishermen can know the rules they must comply with.

All data collected is kept confidential.

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center is involved in many types of fishery data collection activities. Some of the programs are operated exclusively by the Center under the authority of the Sustainable Fisheries Act, as amended. Other programs are joint or cooperative activities between the state fishery agencies and the Southeast Fisheries Science Center. While others are totally operated by the state fishery agency, and they provide the data to the Southeast Fisheries Science Center, either to include in a regional database or as input to stock assessments, economic/environmental impact reviews, or analyzes of proposed fishery regulations.

The collection of fishery statistics can be divided into two general categories - fishery independent data and fishery dependent data. Fishery independent data are collected in a manner that does not involved commercial or recreational fishing. This type of data come from scientifically designed projects such as research cruses or underwater reef assessments. Fishery dependent data, on the other hand, are collected directly from the commercial and recreational harvester. The information provided in this web page only included fishery dependent programs.