WPacFIN obtains data through cooperative agreements with agency partners in American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, and Hawaii, and tailors file transfer protocols (FTP), data compilation, integration and summarization to meet specific insular, regional and federal fisheries monitoring requirements.

American Samoa

• Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources (DMWR)
  
  
  The American Samoa DMWR is located near Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila and has been collecting commercial fisheries data from the Tutuila fleet since the early 1970s. Since 1982, WPacFIN has provided the DMWR with computer hardware, software, and technical assistance, helping them implement digital data entry and quality control processes, FTP and develop summary analyses for their fisheries data. In 1983, DMWR extended its coverage to the Manu'a Islands, and in 1985, modified its data collection programs to include recreational and subsistence fisheries data, with support from WPacFIN and the US Fish & Wildlife Service's Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program.


• NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO)
  
  
  American Samoa Field Office and Observer Program in Pago Pago.
  The PIRO American Samoa Field Office in Pago Pago collects cannery sampling data that it shared with DMWR and WPacFIN since the late 1990s. This included length-frequency samples for tunas and large pelagics (2001-2013) and the percentage of fish sold to the cannery, local markets, and elsewhere (1995-2010). Until 2013, these data were recorded by DMWR (now by PIFSC-FRMD). The data are used to estimate the weight and value of landings made by longline vessels. In addition to the data collected through the federal logbook program, the PIRO Observer Program assists with tracking vessel arrival/departure data for PIFSC-FRMD, and collects longline set-level data on landed and discarded species (for more information see PIFSC FRMD International Fisheries).

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)

• Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW)
  
  
  The CNMI DFW, Department of Lands & Natural Resources, has been collecting statistical data on the commercial fishing fleet of Saipan since the mid-1970s. Since 1982, WPacFIN has provided the DFW with computer hardware, software, and technical assistance and implemented significant improvements to their data collection, FTP and processing systems. DFW also receives support for their shore-based creel survey data collections from the US Fish & Wildlife Service's Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Program.

Guam

• Division of Aquatic & Wildlife Resources (DAWR)
  
  
  The Guam DAWR, Department of Agriculture, has been conducting offshore and inshore creel surveys since the early 1970s, with funding support from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration. In 1982, DAWR began working with WPacFIN to modify its creel survey data collection methods, and create programs to statistically “expand” catch and effort data to estimate total (100%) landings. That same year, WPacFIN began working with DAWR staff and local fish dealers who voluntarily share fish sales receipts to provide information on commercial landings.
  


• Bureau of Statistics and Plans (BSP)
  
  
  Since 1988, the Guam BSP (formerly the Guam Dept. of Commerce) has administered the large-scale fishery data collection program to monitor and study the volume of tuna being offloaded and transshipped through Guam. The data collection program was first developed by the South Pacific Commission and is now supported by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC). Since 1989, WPacFIN has provided a supplemental data processing program to help the Guam BSP register individual fish weights by species, further examining the impact of the developing longline fishery in the Pacific. As with other agencies, WPacFIN software also supports scanning of data collection forms and FTP (file transfers).

Hawaii

• Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR)
  
  
  The Hawaii DAR, Department of Land & Natural Resources, has been collecting data from licensed commercial fishers since 1948. DAR manages the state's aquatic resources and ecosystems through programs in commercial fisheries, aquatic resources protection, habitat enhancement, and recreational fisheries. WPacFIN has worked in close collaboration with DAR since 1981. WPacFIN software is used at DAR to cross-check dealer- and fisher-reported data, summarize delinquencies in fisher reporting, produce automated reports, share data via FTP, and “fast track” fisheries with Allowable Catch Limits (ACL, such as the “Deep 7 Bottomfish” catch limit).
  

Fishing Industry Partners