Trip Ticket Program

The Trip Ticket Program is a method to collect commercial seafood landings and associated fishing information for each commercial fishing trip. Information gathered includes species and quantity harvested, hours fished, gear used, primary area harvested and price paid per pound.

Individual trip information provides fishery scientists with more detailed catch information that will improve the accuracy of stock assessments. Individual trip information will also provide fishery managers information on the impact of environmental changes and catastrophic events (such as hurricanes) on fisheries. Additionally, this information may be used by fisheries managers to establish and monitor quotas, issue permits, and aid in the assessment of federal disaster funds. Trip tickets are quickly becoming the standard method of collecting marine commercial landings data throughout the nation.

Funding for this program is provided through the GSMFC. This program is part of a Gulf-wide effort to generate more specific information for each commercial fishery by collecting landings and effort data from each fishing trip. Trip tickets are printed in triplicate form and supplied to Alabama seafood dealers. Seafood dealers are required to complete the trip ticket for each transaction. An alternative form of submission is through an electronic entry program which allows seafood dealers to enter landings and trip information and submit it via the internet on a monthly basis. Data from the completed trip tickets are scanned into a computer, verified and edited. Monthly data is submitted to GSMFC and will ultimately be supplied to NOAA Fisheries.