ARLINGTON, Va. — June 30, 2014 — The following was released by the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program:
The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP), a state and federal partnership for marine fisheries data collection and data management, has allocated nearly $2 million to its state and federal partners for new and ongoing projects to improve data collection for coastal fisheries in 2014. The following projects will be awarded funding.
Maine Department of Marine Resources will receive 1) $164,663 to continue the state's management of dealer and harvester reporting and 2) $130,598 to continue portside commercial catch sampling and comparative bycatch sampling for Atlantic herring, Atlantic mackerel, and Atlantic menhaden.
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries will receive $139,094 to implement a swipe card pilot project for Massachusetts trip-level shellfish transactions.
Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife will receive $85,408 to maintain and coordinate its fishery-dependent data feeds to ACCSP.
New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife will receive $152,602 to continue electronic reporting and biological characterization of its commercial fisheries.
North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries will receive 1) $143,144 to begin characterizing finfish bycatch and discards (including protected species interactions) in its cobia hook-and-line fishery, 2) $50,549 to begin a pilot study on bycatch and discards (including protected species) in North Carolina's commercial skimmer trawl fishery, and 3) $35,886 to begin a project focused on the age and sex data collection from the state's recreational and commercial fisheries.
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources will receive $175,716 to continue instituting a collection method for ACCSP commercial module in South Carolina.
The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission will receive $57,400 to continue carrying out an observer program for the Mid-Atlantic (New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia) and Rhode Island small mesh otter trawl fishery.
The ACCSP Recreational Technical Committee and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will jointly receive $155,490 to increase at sea sampling levels for the recreational headboat fishery on the Atlantic coast (New Hampshire through Florida).
For more information on any of these projects please contact Ann McElhatton, Program Manager with ACCSP, at info@accsp.org or 703.842.0780.