The Fisheries Statistics Program manages the data submitted by commercial fishermen and dealers about landings, effort, and economic information about Massachusetts fisheries.
The program cooperates with other government agencies, including the federal government. Data collection standards are in place along the East Coast. The goal is to streamline data collection and reduce duplicate reporting.
Managers use these data in the development of fisheries management plans.
This program is partially funded by a federal grant from the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act.
Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program
East coast states and federal marine fisheries agencies are partners in the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP).
ACCSP developed the coastwide data collection standards. ACCSP staff also maintains the Standard Atlantic Fisheries Information System (SAFIS) and the data warehousing system that houses all Massachusetts' commercial fisheries data.
Program staff members serve on many ACCSP committees. These include:
- The Operations Committee
- The Information Systems Committee
- The Commercial Technical Committee
- The SAFIS Outreach Committee
- The Data Warehouse Outreach Committee
Other Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) staff serve on more ACCSP committees. These include:
- The Biological Committee
- The Bycatch Committee
- The Recreational Technical Committee
- The Coordinating Council
Fisherman and seafood dealer reporting
All licensed commercial fishermen report either to the state or the federal government. The same applies to all licensed seafood dealers who buy seafood from fishermen. Fishermen report their catch and effort information monthly to DMF. Seafood dealers report landings and economic information weekly.
Managers use these data in a variety of ways, such as:
- Quota management
- Public health
- Stock assessments
- Economic analyses
- Spatial analyses
- Fishery characterizations
Pending analysis of confidentiality, summarized data are available upon request.
Additional Resources
Quota-managed fisheries
Regional and state managers set state or coast-wide quotas for specific species. Exceeding quotas enacts a penalty for the following year.
To prevent this, the program tracks landings of quota-monitored species. Required weekly dealer reports provide the data. Managers make projections about fishery closings by using this information.
The quotas and landings page shows landings of regulated species reported to date. Fishermen, dealers, and managers use the page to follow along throughout the seasons.
Landings are also available on the quota information phone line. Please call (978) 282-0308 and follow the prompts to access them. Commercial and recreational fishery regulations and reporting requirements also have prompts.