Welcome to the Fisheries Data Services Division
The Fisheries Data Services Division (FDSD) in the Northeast Region of NMFS has the primary responsibility for the collection of fishery dependent information from commercial fishery operations for most federally managed species from Maine through Virginia. For some species this responsibility extends throughout the entire range of the commercial fisheries on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. In addition, the FDSD has responsibility for establishing quality standards for fisheries dependent data collections that are managed by the Northeast Regional Office, improving the quality of fishery dependent data and the collection of biological information from commercial catches
The coastal states also collect fishery dependent information for use in the management of marine resources within state jurisdiction. FDSD assists the states in the collection of these data or shared collection responsibility.
The mission of the Division is to collect accurate and timely data on the landings and effort of the commercial fisheries in the northeastern United States.
The goals of the Fisheries Data Services Division are:
- To acquire data through mandatory reporting programs on the landings and effort of regulated fisheries of the northeastern United States;
- To provide timely and accurate landings and effort data on the federally regulated fisheries in the northeast for in-season management and analysis;
- To collect dockside biological samples from commercial fishing trips for federally regulated fisheries in the northeast; and
- To provide finished data products to support fisheries management and scientific analyses.
To achieve these goals, the Fisheries Data Services Division has established the following objectives:
- Provide landings and effort data with sufficient temporal and spatial resolution to support management objectives for federally regulated fisheries;
- Provide fishery-dependent biological data collections as requested by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center;
- Coordinate with Atlantic Coast Cooperative Statistics Program for the collections of inshore, non-federally permitted fisheries data;
- Improve the quality of fishery-dependent data collections in support of management programs in the northeast region;
- Develop data collection programs to supplement information in areas not adequately covered by base data collection programs;
- Work with IRM to develop access systems to fishery-dependent information for use by fisheries managers, scientists and industry;
- Through direct interaction with members of the fishing industry promote improvements in the quality of the information provided by the industry and a greater understanding of the regulations.
| Questions? |  |
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| Contact John Witzig Assistant Regional Administrator (978) 281-9264 National Marine Fisheries Service 55 Great Republic Drive Gloucester, MA 01930 |
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