The potomac river fisheries commission proposes year 6 maintenance funding to complete the implementation of electronic trip-level reporting for its commercial fisheries sector through the atlantic…

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded the Potomac River Fisheries Commission $296,482 on February 1, 2027, under the Fisheries Data Program (CFDA 11.437) to complete Year 6 maintenance funding for electronic trip-level reporting implementation in the commercial fisheries sector through the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program.

The recipient will finalize the transition to electronic reporting using ACCSP eTrips and the PRFC SAIL cloud-based system, enabling real-time, bi-directional data integration with the SAFIS database. Work focuses on achieving near-complete harvester participation through targeted outreach, training, and incentive-based adoption strategies while maintaining data continuity for remaining paper submissions. System enhancements will include improved data validation, automated processing, and exploration of advanced technologies to increase efficiency and data integrity. By reducing reporting lag and minimizing manual data entry errors, the project will provide more timely and accurate data for management of key species, including Atlantic Menhaden and other quota-managed fisheries. This work represents the final phase of a multi-year effort to modernize PRFC's fisheries data systems and ensure long-term sustainability and interoperability across jurisdictions.

The award runs from February 1, 2027, through January 31, 2028, with place of performance at Colonial Beach, Virginia. The Fisheries Data Program supports state and interstate fishery agencies in enhancing data collection and analysis systems to respond to coastwide fisheries management needs and provide catch, effort, economic, and biological data on federally managed species to Fishery Management Councils.

The potomac river fisheries commission proposes year 6 maintenance funding to complete the implementation of electronic trip-level reporting for its commercial fisheries sector through the atlantic coastal cooperative statistics program. This project directly advances accsp priorities by improving catch and effort data quality, timeliness, and completeness, while supporting coastwide stock assessments and management of quota-based fisheries. The project will finalize the transition to electronic reporting using accsp etrips and the prfc sail cloud-based system, enabling real-time, BI-directional data integration with the safis database. Efforts will focus on achieving near-complete harvester participation through targeted outreach, training, and incentive-based adoption strategies, while maintaining data continuity for remaining paper submissions. System enhancements will include improved data validation, automated processing, and exploration of advanced technologies to further increase efficiency and data integrity. By reducing reporting lag and minimizing manual data entry errors, this project will provide more timely and accurate data for management of key species, including atlantic menhaden and other quota-managed fisheries. Outcomes will include improved compliance with interstate data standards, enhanced decision-making capability, and measurable improvements in data delivery to accsp. This work represents the final phase of a multi-year effort to modernize prfcs fisheries data systems and ensure long-term sustainability and interoperability across jurisdictions.