Limited Access Privilege Programs/Data Management Branch

The Southeast Regional Office’s (SERO) Limited Access Privilege Programs and Data Management (LAPP/DM) Branch has three main aspects:

• Data management & statistical analysis;
• Catch share programs; and
• Electronic technologies (including electronic monitoring and reporting). 

Data are a critical component to our mission. The LAPP/DM branch collects, manages, and analyzes fishery data to support federal fishery management in the Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico), South Atlantic, and Caribbean waters.

We monitor commercial and recreational landings with respect to quotas and annual catch limits, as well as provide statistical approaches and analyses to predict fishing seasons. The branch works collaboratively with NMFS’ Southeast Fisheries Science Center, the Office of Science and Technology, other SERO divisions and branches, and the fishery management councils for the Gulf of Mexico, South Atlantic, and Caribbean to evaluate and analyze the effects of proposed regulations. 

The branch supports electronic technologies for collecting fisheries data. The branch manages and operates the Southeast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting (SEFHIER) program. The SEFHIER Program collects electronic reporting of federal for-hire vessel catch and effort data in the Gulf and South Atlantic/Atlantic regions. The branch also manages and operates the SERO Catch Share programs, including the South Atlantic Wreckfish Individual Transferable Quota (Wreckfish ITQ), the Gulf of Mexico’s Red Snapper Individual Fishing Quota (RS-IFQ), and Grouper Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota (GT-IFQ) programs.

Catch Shares

• NOAA Fisheries launched the updated Catch Shares Online System in December 2020.  The updated version now works on tablets and phones.
  • For further information, please see FB20-064.
• For information regarding the SERO Catch Shares programs, visit the Catch Shares Homepage.
  • Occasionally, the Catch Share Online System displays an error message that makes it appear the online system is not working properly.  If this occurs, users should clear the cache and Internet browser history.  Once clear, refresh the page and the site may then load. 
    • Instructions for how to clear the cache and internet browser history in the three most commonly used Internet browsers
• Individual Fishing Quota Common Terms
• Additional Information and outreach documents for the Catch Share Programs in Spanish and Vietnamese
• Catch Share Customer Service
  • Phone: 1-866-425-7627 (select option 2)
  • E-mail: nmfs.ser.catchshare@noaa.gov
• Red Snapper and Grouper-Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota Programs 5-Year Review (2012-2018)
• Catch Share Related Amendments to Fishery Management Plans
  • Reef Fish Amendment 26: Establish a Red Snapper Individual Fishing Quota Program
  • Reef Fish Amendment 29: Effort Management in the Commercial Grouper and Tilefish Fisheries
  • Reef Fish Amendment 36A: Modifications to Commercial Individual Fishing Quota Programs
    • Frequently Asked Questions for Landing Federally-Managed Reef Fish Commercially Harvested from the Gulf
    • Request For a Landing Location for Commercially Permitted Reef Fish Vessels
  • Reef Fish Amendment 53: Red Grouper Allocations and Annual Catch Levels and Targets
  • Snapper Grouper Amendment 48: Modernization of the Wreckfish Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) Program
• Catch Shares National Policy

Catch Up on Catch Shares

Our newsletter, "Catch up on Catch Shares", outlines available resources pertaining to the Catch Share online system, as well as other relevant fishery management issues.  Topics included in the newsletters are: community perspectives, upcoming actions, system functions, IFQ data, and links to important events and websites. 

• Issue No. 1 - April 2018
• Issue No. 2 - July 2018
• Issue No. 3 - October 2018
• Issue No. 4 - December 2018
• Issue No. 5 - April 2019
• Issue No. 6 - October 2021
• Issue No. 7 - April 2022
• Issue No. 8 - August 2022
• Issue No. 9 - October 2022
• Issue No. 10 - February 2023
• Issue No. 11 - March 2024
• Issue No. 12 - June 2024
• Issue No. 13 - December 2024
• Issue No. 14 - March 2025

Sign up here!

Electronic Technologies

• NOAA Fisheries is committed to utilizing innovative and modern technologies to collect, process, and disseminate data. For more information visit the Southeast Electronic Reporting and Technologies webpage.
• NOAA Fisheries launched the Southeast For-Hire Integrated Electronic Reporting (SEFHIER) program in January 2021.  This program includes electronic logbook reporting for federally permitted vessels in the Gulf South Atlantic/Atlantic regions.
• For detailed information on the SEFHIER program, please visit SEFHIER webpage.

Staff Publications

• Retrospective Analyses of Commercial Trip Limit Efficacy in the Southeastern USA
• Does the Lunar Cycle Affect Reef Fish Catch Rates?
• Modelling community structure and species co-occurrence using fishery observer data
• Evaluation of Alternatives to Winter Closure of Black Sea Bass Pot Gear: Projected Impacts on Catch and Risk of Entanglement with North Atlantic Right Whales Eubalaena glacialis
• Stock Complexes for Fisheries Management in the Gulf of Mexico
• Forecasting for Recreational Fisheries Management: What's the Catch?
• SEDAR50-DW11: Distribution of blueline tilefish (Caulolatilus microps) in the U.S. EEZ from fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data collections
• Factors that Influence Discarding in the Gulf of Mexico Commercial Grouper-Tilefish IFQ Reef Fish Fishery

For copies of the following staff publications, please contact the Southeast Regional Office by phone 727-824-5305 or email.

• Minimizing bycatch and improving efficiency in the commercial bottom longline fishery in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico
• Sink or swim? Factors affecting immediate discard mortality for the gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery

Technical Reports

• Red Snapper and Grouper-Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota Programs 5-Year Review (2012-2018)
• 2023 Gulf of Mexico Grouper-Tilefish IFQ Annual Report
• 2023 Gulf of Mexico Red Snapper IFQ Annual Report
• Grouper-Tilefish Individual Fishing Quota 5-Year Review (2010-2014)
• Headboat Collaborative Pilot Program Final Report
• Review of the Wreckfish Individual Transferable Quota Program of the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

For copies of the historical technical reports, please contact the Southeast Regional Office by phone 727-824-5305 or email.