Shoreside production reports are mandatory reports submitted by shoreside and stationary floating processors that receive groundfish from federally permitted catcher vessels. These reports document groundfish production in post-processed product weight by species, product type, and FMP region (i.e., GOA or BSAI). The weight of each species of fish is reported by product code (e.g., fillets, minced fish, surimi, etc.). The product weights can be converted to a pre-processed (round) weight of fish by expanding the product weight using product recovery rates (PRR). Standardized PRRs are published in Federal regulations for product types and species combinations (50 CFR 679 Table 3).

Logbooks are the industry reports submitted by vessels documenting fishing activity. In particular, these reports provide haul specific information, gear, fishing depth specifics, and vessel estimates of catch. Logbooks may be completed either on paper or in an electronic format. Paper logbooks are required to be completed and submitted for federally permitted vessels over 60 feet in length that are fishing for groundfish and for vessels that are 25 feet and over in length fishing for IFQ halibut. The submission of electronic logbooks is required for trawl catcher/processors participating in the American Fisheries Act (AFA) and Community Development Quota (CDQ) pollock fisheries in the BSAI, trawl catcher/processors participating in the Central GOA rockfish program, and longline catcher/processors fishing for Pacific cod if required to weigh the Pacific cod on a NMFS-approved scale. Some other catcher processors and catcher vessels voluntarily submit an electronic logbook instead of a paper one.

The Blend was the system used by the NMFS Alaska Regional Office to monitor groundfish catch from 1991 until 2002. The Blend system combined data from industry production reports and observer reports to make the best, comprehensive accounting of groundfish catch. These data were used to manage quotas for groundfish in the Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and Aleutian Islands. The blend catch data were also used as the basis for computing estimates of prohibited species bycatch. Prohibited species include Pacific halibut, salmon, herring, and crabs. Blend data were used for numerous regional and national reports, fishery stock assessments, and analysis of fishery management plans. The Blend system used a combination of industry reports and observer data. For shoreside processors, Weekly Production Reports (WPR) submitted by industry were considered the best source of data for retained groundfish landings. All fish delivered to shoreside processors were weighed on scales, and these weights were used to account for retained catch. Observer data from catcher vessels provided the best data on at-sea discards of groundfish by vessels delivering to shoreside processors. Discard rates from these observer data were applied to the shoreside groundfish landings to estimate total at-sea discards from both observed and unobserved catcher vessels. For observed catcher/processors and motherships, the WPR and the Observer Reports recorded estimates of total catch (retained catch plus discards). If both reports were available, the Blend System selected one of them for incorporation into the catch database. If the vessel was unobserved, only the WPR was available. In 2003, the Catch Accounting Sytem was implemented and took advantage of industry reports at a more detailed level, especially from shoreside processors. The Blend system was based on weekly data from processors and was not capable of accounting for some management programs -- including cooperatives, sideboards, complex seasonal allocations, Harvest Limit Area quotas, and quotas assigned to vessels of a particular size class. The Catch Accounting System replaced the Blend as the tool used by the National Marine Fisheries Service to estimate total catch in the groundfish fisheries off Alaska.

The Catch Accounting System (CAS) creates total catch estimates for the groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska. Each year, quotas are established in the CAS that match the annual harvest specification tables for federally managed groundfish fisheries off Alaska. The output of the CAS is the total amount of groundfish that is retained and the amount that is discarded at sea. In addition, the system creates estimates of the total amount of non-groundfish species -- both prohibited species and non-target species -- that are caught in the groundfish fisheries. Prohibited species catch (PSC) consists of salmon, halibut, and several species of crab. All the PSC species have economic value in non-groundfish fisheries and therefore cannot be retained in the groundfish fisheries. Non-target catch are species like coral, sponges, etc., and catch of these species needs to be calculated in order to evaluate the impact of the groundfish fisheries on the ecosystem. The CAS uses a combination of industry reports and onboard observer information to provide an estimate of total catch and bycatch. Industry reported data consists of catch (landing reports) and processed product amounts (production reports), and these reports are electronically recorded and submitted to NMFS via eLandings. The observer data are collected by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) using a stratified sampling design. Other sources of information come from the Alaska Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC), which issues permits and vessel licenses, and Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), which collect the position, time at a position, and course and speed of fishing vessels.

One type of electronic monitoring of Alaska groundfish catch has been conducted by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission using an electronic monitoring (EM) system to collect catch accounting data using video and sensor data of selected fishing vessels in Alaska. Video recordings of fish catch composition aboard selected vessels are collected are stored on hard drives in an effort to track vessel catch and discards to accurately debit discarded catch from the individual fishing quota (IFQ) account of each account holder. This information is collected in place of the sampling for species composition of the catch conducted by human at-sea catch monitors or observers. Reviewers of the videos enter data from the drives and maintain data integrity and quality. Raw, reviewed electronic monitoring data collected by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission must have additional data items added to it to conform to the standard format of data normally collected by Alaska observers in order for the data to be processed by catch accounting of the NMFS Alaska Regional Office. The EM_OBSINT tables contain these transformed data. These data, like data collected by Alaska groundfish observers, and transmitted electronically to the AFSC and are the source data for those interfaces used for fishery management, scientific inquiry and fishing activity monitoring by industry.

Alaska groundfish fisheries observers have been monitoring domestic groundfish fishing activities in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Alaska for over twenty years. The Fisheries Monitoring and Analysis Division staff has been responsible for training, briefing, debriefing and oversight of these observers. The Observer Logistics System, launched in December 2011, is the current computer tool used for observer logistics and contains data on individual observers back to 1990.

In November, 2006, Oceanographic observations were initiated during the resupply cruises to the Little Port Walter Research Station on lower Baranof Island, Southeast Alaska. Six sampling stations were selected starting at mid channel, Stephans Passage near Snettisham Inlet then, near the intersection of Stephans Passage and Fredrick Sound by Brothers Islands, then, near the intersection of Fredrick Sound and Chatham Strait off of Kingsmill Point and then three stations across lower Chatham Strait just north of the latitude of Little Port Walter. An SBE19plus conductivity, temperature and depth recorder was used to take water samples at a speed of approximately one meter per second from the surface to a depth of 250 meters. These observations are intended to be part of the Southeast Alaska Ocean Observing System (SEAOOS). Data are stored as CNV files, HEX files and jpg files on Frank Throwers computer.

Vessels fishing trawl gear, vessels fishing hook-and-line and pot gear that are also greater than 57.5 feet overall, and shoreside and floating processing facilities comprise the trip-selection stratum. Approximately 60 days prior to the start of the year, registered owners will receive a letter informing them that they are required to log all intended future trips for their vessel using a supplied username and password into a web-based system (that is also accessible by telephone). This system, termed the Observer Declare and Deploy System (ODDS), was developed by NMFS to facilitate the assignment of observers to future fishing events on a trip-by-trip basis. As described in the proposed rule, ODDS works by providing vessel operators (either owners or their designated captains) with an account through which they shall enter their anticipated fishing trips. More than one trip can be entered- three if the start time of the first trip and the end time of the last trip span more than 72 hours, six if not. Anticipated target fishery is not required- only the port of departure and landing with the anticipated start and end times of the trip. Each trip must be entered at least 72 hours before anticipated departure to allow the vessels? observer provider time to deploy an observer. If the contractor provider cannot provide an observer to the vessel, the vessel may be granted a release from coverage by NMFS and go fishing. If the provider obtains an observer for the trip, the vessel may still opt to defer a trip for up to 48 hours from the anticipated departure to account for unanticipated events such as poor weather conditions. If, however, after this additional 48 hour period has passed and the vessel has still not departed, that trip is cancelled by the ODDS, the observer is released from the vessel to be deployed elsewhere, and the vessel?s next logged trip will require observer coverage.

The Groundfish SAFE Economic Report, published annually as a supplement to the Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Reports for Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska groundfish, summarizes economic information about the federal groundfish fisheries off Alaska. The Economic Report includes a core set of tables summarizing catch, discards and bycatch; ex-vessel value and price; wholesale production, value, and price; fishery participation by small entities; and fishing effort.

Each year over 50 Alaskan groundfish stock assessments report the condition of Alaskan fisheries resources in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Stock assessment scientists integrate biological observations and theoretical considerations via population modeling techniques to produce population dynamic trends and biological yield estimation. This data set captures various stock assessment trends and estimations.