METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION FOR FISHERIES MANAGEMENT

A method of gathering, analyzing, and reporting data about commercial fish stocks and fisheries. Under this method, individual commercial fishermen use a device specific to the type of fishing being done to record the number of fish brought aboard, the number kept or released, the reason for release, the date, time, and location of the catch, and the fishery conditions, such as water temperature, depth, and salinity at the time that fish are brought aboard the fishing vessel. The individual fishermen transfer the data, typically via telephone link, to a central data repository, or to a receiving station when the data is transferred to the central data repository at a later time. The data is encrypted during transfer and placed in fisherman files, each fisherman having his own, restricted-access file. Data from all individual fishermen, as well as from other sources, are placed in a composite data pool to be used as source data for a general fishery database on fishstocks and fisheries. This data can be stripped of data that would identify a particular fisherman as the source, to preserve fishing secrets. Confidential reports can be generated from a fisherman file and delivered to the individual fisherman who is the source of that data. Reports for regulatory agencies can also be generated from the data in the fisherman file. The fishery database provides a unit for regulatory agencies, fisheries managers, and fish research institutions to analyze, monitor, and report on the development of fishstocks and fisheries.