Great Lakes Commercial Fishing Database

The Great Lakes Commercial Fishing Database contains commercial fishing data from the United States. The states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin gather monthly fishing reports and forward them to the Great Lakes Center. The database provides the fisherman's name, information about the vessel, the estimated weight and estimated dollar value. Methodology: The database is not a scientific one. The data is reported by individual licensed fishermen to each state juridsdiction. The states gather monthly fishing reports and forward them to the Great Lakes Science Center. GLSC then compiles all of the information into a database each year and produces an annual summary that is called the NOAA report. It is sent to the National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) and is included with commercial fishing data from the entire United States into a publication.