CNMI Commercial Fisheries BioSampling (CFBS)

The main market sampling program in the CNMI is the new biosampling program implemented in late 2010 on the island of Saipan. It is a joint DFW and industry project with a local environmental consulting firm doing most of the field work, data processing, and obtaining of life history samples. DFW is working up some of the life history samples for that aspect of the project. It is strictly a voluntary data collection system requiring ingenuity to obtain the participation of a large percentage of the main fish vendors on the islands of Saipan, Rota and Tinian. All catches are from the CNMI and some of them from up to about 100 miles from Saipan. It is a census sampling program of 100% of the commercial harvest of a subsample of the trips landing during any sampling period. Due to logistical and resource limitations the majority of sampling was initially (Dec 2010-late 2012) focused on the spearfish reef fish fishery on Saipan, but has begun obtaining information on the bottomfish fishery as well in late 2012 and expanded to Tinian and Rota. Life history samples are also being collected on several species on reef fish and one deep bottomfish. These data are considered confidential.