| The Division of Marine Fisheries is comprised of nine sections that collectively carry out the agency’s mandate of protecting the state’s marine and estuarine resources. The Fisheries Management Section is one of the cornerstones of the organization. With approximately 70 scientists, technicians and support personnel, the section lays the groundwork for management strategies and decisions that impact both the state’s fisheries and fishermen.
One of the major components of managing fisheries is estimating the amount of fish that can be harvested while keeping the fish populations healthy. Fisheries managers need to learn as much as possible about individual fish stocks and the fishermen who target those fish, then propose ways to keep stocks healthy and abundant. That’s a lot of work considering the state has 39 major fish stocks.
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- Age structure of the stock;
- Age at spawning;
- Average number of eggs each age fish can produce;
- Ratio of males to females in a stock;
- Number of new fish entering the catchable population;
- Rate at which fish die from natural causes;
- Rate at which fish are harvested;
- Growth rate of the fish;
- Time and the place fish spawn; and
- Migratory habits and food habits for all ages of fish in the stock.
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- Types and numbers of fishermen in a fishery;
- Pounds of fish caught by each type of gear;
- Fishing effort expended with each type of gear;
- Age structure of the fish caught by each group of fishermen;
- Ratio of males to females in the catch;
- Value of the fish to different groups of fishermen;
- Preferred size of the catch for market; and
- Time and place where the best catches occur.
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