Current NMFS social, cultural and economic data collection efforts

NMFS and NOAA have long sponsored research on fishermen and their communities, primarily through grant programs such as Sea Grant, Saltonstall-Kennedy, MARFIN, and CMER. However, NMFS is still in the early stages of much of its research to provide complete profiles for all US fishing-dependent communities in formats to allow easy comparisons across communities and regions. A number of studies and workshops have been proposed or are underway at the present time. Few final reports are as yet available -- especially with regard to social and cultural aspects of communities.

This page describes all such NMFS-sponsored projects currently in progress and will add reports as they are completed. In addition, some primarily economic reports, also critical to understanding fishing communities, are already available via the commercial and recreational economics pages (accessible through the toolbar at the top of this page). Finally, a selection of grant research sponsored by NMFS and NOAA are also listed and links or contact information provided.

Under the Sustainable Fisheries Act of 1996 which reauthorized and amended the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act of 1976, there is a requirement for a Vessel Registrations System/Fisheries Information System. To build on and improve existing databases as required, NMFS has partnered with States and Marine Fisheries Commissions to create more complete databases in each region. For a national overview see the FIS page.

For more information by region, see:

• The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP))  --  currently conducting pilot studies of new socioeconomic surveys.
• The Pacific Coast Fisheries Information Network (PACFIN) ).
• The Fisheries Economics Data Program (EFIN)   in the Northwest and Alaska.
• The Alaska Fisheries Information Network (AKFIN) ).
• The Gulf States Fisheries Information Network (Gulf FIN).

For individual EISs and other research projects for specific regions see:

• NMFS Alaska Regional Office
• North Pacific Fishery Management Council -- see links under Publications and Reports
• Pacific Fishery Management Council Communities page
• South Atlantic Fishery Management Council socioeconomic page    and searchable library,
• New England Fishery Management Council's page on Plans & Reports   -- see especially the SAFE reports for 2001
• NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center searchable publications page and reports by the Social Sciences Branch
• Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's page of Downloadable files
• Western Pacific Fishery Management Council's Documents page
• Caribbean Fishery Management Council.   See Fishery Management Plans and Reports.
• Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council .
• NMFS Southeast Fisheries Science Center publications. Use browser edit and search to find social or economic in the title.

For other NOAA research programs in these areas, see:

• The NOAA Coastal and Ocean Resource Economics (CORE) group conducts a wide variety of research and data collection on socioeconomic issues.

For NOAA grants to and about the fishing industry and fishing communities, see:

• Information on Saltonstall-Kennedy, MARFIN (for both Northeast and Southest), Sea Grant and a variety of other programs
• The various Cooperative Marine Education and Research (CMER) Programs on the east coast.