The Marine Fisheries Section is responsible for collecting data and making recommendations to the Administrative Section for marine fisheries management -- the management of all commercial and recreational marine fisheries in Alabama waters. Marine fisheries management decisions are based upon sound biological data. The marine fisheries section is responsible for designing and conducting projects to provide the data necessary to support various decisions that must be made by the marine fisheries administrators. To accomplish this goal, the Marine Fisheries Section maintains ongoing biological sampling, data analysis and basic research programs.
Marine fisheries management sampling programs concentrate particularly on recreationally and commercially important finfish, shrimp and oyster populations. Biologists monitor and assess fish, shrimp, and oyster habitat and populations, checking the size and number of organisms that appear. As data is collected, it is entered into a computer database for analysis for recommendation on size limits and other regulations to conserve the sampled marine species.
To minimize the oil and gas industries' impacts on coastal resources, the Marine Fisheries Section also interacts with inter-agency scientists and members of the industries to provide recommendations for the locations of wells, production facilities, and pipeline corridors.