This dataset is a record of trips selected during pilot procedures for the PPS design project designed to track the port agents ability to follow the PPS design and used to evaluate the effectiveness of this design.

The Headboat Survey provides many products to fishery managers through its data collection programs. Annual landings estimates, by species, area and month are provided for all species encountered in the survey. These fishery dependent estimates were used by stock assessment scientists in all SEDARs in both the south Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in all stock assessments both before and after the SEDAR process began

A correction factor is calculated by month and vessel to adjust for misreporting as described above. These correction factors are applied to the reported landings by species-vessel-month combinations to generate total estimated numbers of fish landed. These numbers are then multiplied by mean weights of fish calculated from the bioprofile data by species-area-month combinations to generate a total weight of fish landed for each species-vessel-month combination. Landings estimates are provided by species, area and month.

The Southeast Region Headboat Survey (SRHS), administered by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) personnel based at the Beaufort, NC NOAA Laboratory, has operated along the southeast U.S. Atlantic coast since 1972 and along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast since 1986. The survey is the longest continuous time series of recreational fisheries data from federal waters on the U.S. east coast, and second longest on the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast (behind the NMFS Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey / Marine Recreational Information Program, initiated along the Gulf Coast in 1981). The Headboat Survey provides many products to fishery managers through its data collection programs. Annual landings estimates, by species, area and month are provided for all species encountered in the survey. These fishery dependent estimates were used by stock assessment scientists in all SEDARs in both the south Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in all stock assessments both before and after the SEDAR process began.The logbook data is used to derive a long-term fishery dependent index of abundance used by stock assessment scientists in assessing long-term health of the populations.

The holds list is used to track vessel compliance by recording any missing/late trip reports. This list is shared with enforcement officers in the event that legal procedings occur.

The k-factor files contain the correction factors calculated from the headboat activity report. A correction factor is calculated for individual vessels by month.Total estimated effort is divided by reported effort to calculate a value for correcting reported landings.

This data set contains catch and effort for fishing trips that are taken by vessels with a Federal permit issued for the swordfish and sharks under the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) fishery management plan. Fishermen that own vessels with permits in these fisheries are required to complete a vessel logbook for every trip in which any species in the Highly Migratory Species fishery management plans are caught and landed. Fishermen are not required to report fishing trips in which other than these species are caught. However, fishermen are required to submit a no-fishing report if they did not fish for or catch any HMS species during a calendar month. In 1986, the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) initiated a logbook program for vessels that held a federal vessel permit to fish for swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. In 1993, a similar program was initiated for vessels with a federal permit to fish for sharks that are included in the HMS fishery management plan. In order to provide sufficient level of detail for fishing effort by the longline vessels, the catch and effort data need to be reported for each longline set. Consequently, a single logbook form was designed for the fishermen to record the catch (numbers of animals caught) and effort, which includes data on the length of the longline, the number of hooks and the duration of the set. To reduce the number of times that fishermen need to record certain pieces of information, e.g., location of unloading, duration of trip, number of crew, a trip summary form was designed in 1999 that includes the trip-related information that is the same for every set. This redesign of the logbook form resulted in two forms, the trip summary and the set forms. Only one trip summary needs to be completed for each trip, but a separate set form needs to be completed for each longline set made during the trip. At the same time, additional questions were added to the trip summary form to collect information on the expenses that the vessels incurred during the trip. Initially, this information was voluntary and the fishermen did not have to provide the cost data whereas the catch and effort data are mandatory and the vessels permit will not be renewed if logbooks are not received for every trip where swordfish and/or sharks are caught and landed.

This data set contains data for vessels that are greater than five net tons and have a current US Coast Guard documentation number. Beginning in1979, the NMFS initiated a system to conduct an annual survey to inventory all of the vessels that actively fished in commercial fisheries during the previous calendar year. The survey is conducted by port agents that are located at fishing port throughout the Southeast Region. They record the physical information about the vessels, e.g., length, age, horsepower, etc., as well as gathering information about the fishing characteristics of the vessels, e.g., type and amount of gear, number of crew, etc. Often the physical characteristics of the vessels are retrieved from the data maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard as part of their vessel documentation program. In recent years, much of the fishing characteristics are retrieved from either trip ticket and/or logbook data

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center Mississippi Laboratories conducts standardized fisheries independent resource surveys in the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and U.S. Caribbean to provide abundance and distribution information to support regional and international stock assessments. Environmental profiles are acquired during all surveys and are averaged into one meter depth bins. The data are acquired with Sea-Bird SBE25 and SBE9 profilers equipped with water temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, beam transmittance, and fluorescence sensors. These are raw data that are unprocessed.

This data set contains catch and effort for fishing trips that are taken by vessels with a Federal permit issued for the swordfish and sharks under the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) fishery management plan. Fishermen that own vessels with permits in these fisheries are required to complete a vessel logbook for every trip in which any species in the Highly Migratory Species fishery management plans are caught and landed. Fishermen are not required to report fishing trips in which other than these species are caught. However, fishermen are required to submit a no-fishing report if they did not fish for or catch any HMS species during a calendar month. In 1986, the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) initiated a logbook program for vessels that held a federal vessel permit to fish for swordfish in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. In 1993, a similar program was initiated for vessels with a federal permit to fish for sharks that are included in the HMS fishery management plan. In order to provide sufficient level of detail for fishing effort by the longline vessels, the catch and effort data need to be reported for each longline set. Consequently, a single logbook form was designed for the fishermen to record the catch (numbers of animals caught) and effort, which includes data on the length of the longline, the number of hooks and the duration of the set. To reduce the number of times that fishermen need to record certain pieces of information, e.g., location of unloading, duration of trip, number of crew, a trip summary form was designed in 1999 that includes the trip-related information that is the same for every set. This redesign of the logbook form resulted in two forms, the trip summary and the set forms. Only one trip summary needs to be completed for each trip, but a separate set form needs to be completed for each longline set made during the trip. At the same time, additional questions were added to the trip summary form to collect information on the expenses that the vessels incurred during the trip. Initially, this information was voluntary and the fishermen did not have to provide the cost data whereas the catch and effort data are mandatory and the vessels permit will not be renewed if logbooks are not received for every trip where swordfish and/or sharks are caught and landed.