Disclaimers, Caveats, and Other Useful Information

   May 9, 2007
   
   NMFS National Statistics and PacFIN
   
   Catch statistics published on the NMFS website may include data not published on
   the PacFIN website. For this reason some catch statistics available from the
   NMFS website that one would think would be comparable to catch statistics
   available on the PacFIN are not. An example of this is total catch for landings
   into California ports. The PacFIN database includes catch data from fish-tickets
   for a finite list of fish and animal species. This list does not include kelp or
   seaweed. The NMFS data does include kelp and/or seaweed. So, total catch for all
   species for California obtained from the PacFIN website will not equal the catch
   for all species for California obtained from the NMFS website.  
   
   Biological Data Subsystem
   
   The Biological Data Subsystem (BDS) includes length, weight, and age data for 
   all groundfish samples taken by CDFG, ODFW, and WDFW during 1981 - present.
   Some of the data for groundfish samples from earlier years is also included. The
   BDS does not include any data for biological samples taken in the westcoast at-sea
   fishery.