Puerto Rico Commercial Landings Statistics 1983 and more recent in Accumulated Landings System (ALS) Compatible Format

This data set contains multi-trip and single trip level quantities and value for all seafood products that are landed and sold by established seafood dealers and brokers as well as by the fishers themselves at fishing centers in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. These landings statistics include all commercially landed marine species and are identified by species (usually the local or common name). These data are collected by field samplers employed by the Department of Natural Resources through a trip ticket program. The program also collects data on the number of trips, type and amount of gear, the fishing location, hours fished, and the fishing center where the catches are landed.

Data for the individual trip reports are provided to the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC). These data are formatted to be consistent with other landings statistics stored in the Accumulative Landings System; however, they are not summarized trips unless originally reported that way. By and large these are trip level data. The Puerto Rico codes are converted to the standard National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) codes.

Not all fishers comply with reporting requirements. The amount varies from year to year. For this reason these data are subject to correction by dockside survey data obtained by the PR DPNR several times a year at various coastal locations. The surveys originally determined the number of trips at the location but since 2003 they have collected the total pounds landed. These data are applied to the reported data to obtain a ratio of reported/survey data which is then divided into the reported data to correct for under-reporting on a coastal basis.