NCDMF Glossary of Fisheries Terms



DMF Home	About DMF	Contact DMF	DMF Offices

A - See annual mortality.

ABC - See allowable biological catch.

AP - See advisory panel.

Absolute Abundance - The total number of a kind of fish in the population. This is rarely known, but usually estimated from relative abundance, although other methods may be used.

Abundance - See relative abundance and absolute abundance.

Advisory Panel (AP) - A group of people appointed by a fisheries management agency to review information and give advice. Members are usually not scientists, but most are familiar with the fishing industry or a particular fishery.

Age Frequency or Age Structure - A breakdown of the different age groups of a kind of fish in a population or sample.

Allocation - Distribution of the opportunity to fish among user groups or individuals. The share a user group gets is sometimes based on historic harvest amounts.

Allowable Biological Catch (ABC) - A term used by a management agency which refers to the range of allowable catch for a species or species group. It is set each year by a scientific group created by the management agency. The agency then takes the ABC estimate and sets the annual total allowable catch (TAC).

Anadromous - Fish that migrate from saltwater to fresh water to spawn.

Angler - A person catching fish or shellfish with no intent to sell. This includes people releasing the catch.

Annual Mortality (A) - The percentage of fish dying in one year due to both fishing and natural causes.

Aquaculture - The raising of fish or shellfish under some controls. Ponds, pens, tanks or other containers may be used. Feed is often used. A hatchery is also aquaculture but the fish are released before harvest size is reached.

Artisanal Fishery - Commercial fishing using traditional or small scale gear and boats.

Availability - Describes whether a certain kind of fish of a certain size can be caught by a type of gear in an area.

Bag Limit - The number and/or size of a species that a person can legally take in a day or trip. This may or may not be the same as a possession limit.

Benthic - Refers to animals and fish that live on or in the water bottom.

Billfishes - The family of fish that includes marlins, sailfish and spearfish.

Biomass - The total weight or volume of a species in a given area.

Bony Fishes - Fish that have a bony skeleton and belong to the class Osteichthyes. Basically, this is all fish except for sharks, rays, skates, hagfish and lampreys.

Bycatch - The harvest of fish or shellfish other than the species for which the fishing gear was set. Examples are blue crabs caught in the shrimp trawls or sharks caught on a tuna longline. Bycatch is also often called incidental catch. Some bycatch is kept for sale.

C/E - See catch per unit of effort.

CPUE - See catch per unit of effort.

Catadromous - Fish that migrate from fresh water to saltwater to spawn.

Catch - The total number or poundage of fish captured from an area over some period of time. This includes fish that are caught but released or discarded instead of being landed. The catch may take place in an area different from where the fish are landed. Note: Catch, harvest and landings are different terms with different definitions.

Catch Curve - A breakdown of different age groups of fish, showing the decrease in numbers of fish caught as the fish become older and less numerous or less available. Catch curves are often used to estimate total mortality.

Catch Per Unit of Effort (CPUE;C/E) - The number of fish caught by an amount of effort. Typically, effort is a combination of gear type, gear size, and length of time gear is used. Catch per unit of effort is often used as a measurement of relative abundance for a particular fish.

Catch Stream - The catch statistics for a kind or stock of fish over a period of time.

Catchability Coefficient (q) - The part of a stock that is caught by a defined unit of effort.

Charter Boat - A boat available for hire, normally by a group of people for a short period of time. A charter boat is usually hired by anglers.

Coastal Migratory Pelagic Fishes - Several species of fish that live in open waters near the coast, grouped together by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council and South Atlantic Fishery Management Council for management purposes. This includes king and Spanish mackerel, cobia, dolphin and little tunny.

Cohort - A group of fish spawned during a given period, usually within a year.

Cohort Analysis - See virtual population analysis.

Commercial Fishery - A term related to the whole process of catching and marketing fish and shellfish for sale. *It refers to and includes fisheries resources, fishermen, and related business directly or indirectly involved in harvesting, processing, or sales.

Common Property Resource - A term that indicates a resource owned by the public. It can be fish in public waters, trees on public land, and the air. The government regulates the use of a common property resource to ensure its future benefits.

Compensatory Growth - An increase in growth rate shown by fish when their populations fall below certain levels. This may be caused by less competition for food and living space.

Compensatory Survival - A decrease in the rate of natural mortality (natural deaths) that some fish show when their populations fall below a certain level. This may be caused by less competition for food and living space.

Condition - A mathematical measurement of the degree of plumpness or general health of a fish or group of fish.

Confidence Interval - The probability, based on statistics, that a number will be between an upper and lower limit.

*Controlled Access - See limited entry.

Council - Indicates a regional fishery management group. The Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 as amended created the regional councils. For example, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council develops fishery policies designed to manage those species most often found in Gulf federal waters.

Crustacean - A group of freshwater and saltwater animals having no backbone, with jointed legs and a hard shell made of chitin. Includes shrimp, crabs, lobsters, and crayfish.

*Added by Wallace et al

Cumulative Frequency Distribution - A chart showing the number of animals that fall into certain categories, for example, the number of fish caught that are less than one pound, less than three pounds, and more than three pounds. A cumulative frequency distribution shows the number in a category, plus the number in previous categories.

Back to the glossary Index.