U.S. Caribbean Commercial Landings (CCL) Tables in new format since July 2011 for U.S. Virgin Islands and January 2012 for Puerto Rico

During the period of 2011-2012 a new series of logbook forms were developed for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. These forms were designed as the first step in providing improved commercial landings catch and effort data for the US Caribbean. They are multi-species trip-based forms with the Puerto Rico form divided by species groupings, and the USVI forms divided by gears with the primary species caught by each gear listed for each gear type.  A new set of tables was created in 2011 to house US Caribbean Commercial Landings (CCL) data. These tables are separate from the Accumulated Landings System (ALS) data tables for the landings, although the data are currently passed on to the ALS tables on a regular bi-weekly basis from the CCL.  The data in the CCL begins on January 1, 2012 for Puerto RIco and July 1, 2011 for the USVI.  The tables are designed to house information from 4 different surveys, each having its own multi-species reporting form: 1 from Puerto Rico, 2 from St. Thomas/St. John (traps, other gear groups), and 1 from St. Croix (all gears).  They also house data from a monthly 'no-fishing' form from Puerto Rico.
 
These logbook forms are used to record data for catch (landed catch) and effort for fishing trips made by commercially permitted fishers in Puerto Rico and the USVI. The catch and effort data for the entire trip are reported on a single form (i.e., one form per trip). The types of information required on this trip form include permit holder name, license number, vessel registration number, information on the quantity (reported in pounds) caught for each species, the area and depth of catch, the type and quantity of gear, the landing date (return date), location of landing (unloading of catch), an estimate of the fishing time, and the number of crew are included on this form. 

The Puerto Rico form collects ex-vessel price information.  The USVI forms do not collect price information.  The Puerto RIco logbook form generally follows the historical format; however, there is now only one trip recorded per form.  The new USVI forms are a significant departure from the previous format in that gear types and species specific names are pre-printed on the forms and there is only 1 trip recorded per page where the historical forms included the entire month of trips on a page.  There are also spaces on all new forms where discard information may be recorded.

In addition the data set houses look-up tables for species and families, dialects, gear and gear groups, fishing areas, and permit holders. An online application was designed to allow for entry of data from each form type according to customized screens.

Tags: area fished, caribbean, commercial fisheries, commercial fisheries landings for u.s. caribbean, commercial landings, doc/noaa/nmfs/sefsc, fishdep, fisheries, fishery-dependent, fishing gear, landings, marine fisheries, marine species, national marine fisheries service, noaa, puerto rico, puerto rico fish, southeast fisheries science center, st. croix, st. john, st. thomas, u.s. caribbean fisheries, u.s. department of commerce, virgin islands fish
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce