Catch Accounting System
Alaska Groundfish and Prohibited Species Catch Accounting
Total catch estimates in the groundfish fisheries off Alaska are generated by the Alaska Region and are used to manage about 600 separate groundfish quotas and prohibited species catch limits in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska. Each year, quotas are established in the Catch Accounting System (CAS) that match the annual harvest specification tables. The system uses information from multiple data sources to provide an estimate of total groundfish catch, including at-sea discards, as well and estimates of prohibited species catch and other non-groundfish bycatch. Observer information, dealer landing reports (“fish tickets”), and at-sea production reports are combined to provide an integrated source for fisheries monitoring and in-season decision making.
An important aspect of the CAS is to provide near real-time delivery of accurate data for Inseason Management decisions. To meet this objective, data from industry is reported through the Electronic Reporting System and is fed into the NMFS database every hour. Data from observers is sent to the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) electronically and is transmitted into the CAS every night.
A detailed description of the current catch estimation methods is available in a NOAA technical memorandum NMFS-AFSC-205.
Related Information
- Catch Accounting Diagram
- Electronic Reporting System
- Catch Reports and Harvest Specification Tables
- Groundfish Fisheries Inseason Management and Catch Accounting
- Information Bulletins
- Fisheries Regulations
Contact Information
- Jennifer Mondragon: (907) 586-7010, Email: Jennifer.Mondragon@noaa.gov
- Jason Gasper: (907) 586-7237, Email: Jason.Gasper@noaa.gov
