Evolving fisheries management capabilities. Computer mapping and analysis system for analyzing shrimp harvest data. Revised July 1989.

Abstract

This paper describes part of an evolving process that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is undertaking to develop desk-top information systems to improve the application of large NOAA data bases for decision-making. The Strategic Assessment Branch (SAB) of the Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment, National Ocean Service, and the Galveston Laboratory of the Southeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), have jointly developed a desk-top, microcomputer-based information system to enable rapid analyses of the NMFS Gulf of Mexico commercial shrimp harvest data base. This system is a special application of SAB's Computer Mapping and Analysis System (Cmas). Cmas enables comparisons, analyses, and mapping of information on the distribution, abundance, and life history of marine species throughout major regions of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. The Cmas - Shrimp Harvest desk-top information system provides a rapid analytical tool to evaluate management decisions and alternatives through a series of maps, tables, and graphic outputs. The system was first used in late 1988 and early 1989 to augment the evaluation of the Federal closure of the offshore brown shrimp fishery along the Texas coast. The system was expanded in 1989.