PacFIN Brief for 2010

[Complete 2010 PSMFC Annual Report (pdf)]

The Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN) is the nation's first regional fisheries data network. Funded by a grant from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), PacFIN is a joint federal and state project focused on fisheries data collection and information management. PacFIN provides timely and accurate data to aid effective management of fisheries and fishery resources.

Following are highlights of PacFIN central office activities in 2010:

The Pacific Fisheries Information Network (PacFIN) provided data on historical landings as well as providing support on data retrievals, analyses and review of NMFS' catch share calculations for the West Coast trawl rationalization/TIQ program. This data will be used to provide the fleet with Quota Shares and Quota Pounds information. In addition, PacFIN Seattle and Portland staff prepared for the expansion of the Catch Shares program and the increased duties to accommodate the requirements for the newly expanded Catch Share observer program. This will include increased training classes, gear and computer purchases, and deployment. To offset these costs, the various programs pooled resources to eliminate any gear duplication across the programs.

PacFIN staff provided historical landings data as well as support with data retrievals, analyses and review of the National Marine Fisheries Service's catch share calculations for the West Coast trawl rationalization/TIQ program. This information will be used to provide Quota Shares/Quota Pounds to the fleet. The PacFIN office also released a new web-based query tool that allows access by confidential users to PacFIN.

Portland and Seattle staff worked on the expansion of the Catch Shares program and the expansion of duties to accommodate the increased needs of the Catch Share Observer Program. This included additional training classes, gear and computer purchases, and deployment. To offset these costs, these programs pooled resources to eliminate any gear duplication across the programs.

PSMFC continued to develop and support the expansion software applications for the current West Coast Electronic Fish Ticket Reporting and Compliance Monitoring Program. E-ticket software is provided free to registered buyers in all three states and can capture data for any of the 27 West Coast tickets. A web portal was developed to simplify creation of reporting organizations and provide download access to software and updates. In addition, software was developed to simplify the installation process and automate the process for submitting the data. The submission updates shifted data access by email to a direct web-reporting process.

PSMFC continued supporting development and expansion of the compliance monitoring electronic reporting system to accommodate the increased number of monitoring reports. The older system was modeled to replicate the paper-based reporting structure. Significant improvements to the forms and reports were made to take advantage of the efficiencies offered by e-reporting. Staff worked with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) to ensure tickets printed from this application were accepted in lieu of handwritten tickets. This provided further incentive for processors to adopt e-reporting, thereby eliminating the cost of printing and distributing fish ticket books to dealers involved in the program. Further, ODFW and PSMFC successfully tested the delivery of e-reported fish tickets to ODFW as a first step in moving processors in Oregon to paperless reporting of landings.

Staff also worked with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to secure approval to print their Marine Fish Receiving ticket. This is the primary ticket used to capture IFQ landings in Washington. We are working with WDFW staff to provide access to deliveries of e-reported fish tickets to WDFW.

In addition to receiving catch monitoring and fish ticket data, PSMFC completed a data reporting system that compares and reconciles fish ticket and report discrepancies. These catch estimates are provided to the NMFS Vessel Account System which will give access to near real-time data to fishermen and co-op managers.