Commercial Puchase System
Introduction and Beginning
Fish enter the commercial market in Guam from three sources: full-time commercial fishermen, part-time commercial fishermen, and subsistence or recreational fishermen who frequently sell portions of their catch. No licenses are required to sell fish in Guam, nor are there any reporting requirements for those selling fish.
Before 1979, there was no central place to sell fish, so fishermen had to develop their own markets and peddle their own fish after each trip. The Guam Fishermen's Coop was established, via some government funding, in Agana in July 1979. The Coop subsequently became the central distribution center for fresh local fish.
In 1982, WPacFIN began working with the Coop to improve their invoicing system and obtain data on all fish purchases. A cooperative system was established whereby the Coop would use the forms and coding schemes designed by WPacFIN and would supply copies of all invoices to WPacFIN for entering into computer format. In return, WPacFIN would provide the Coop with document quality control and computer generated summary statistics.
Evolution to Current System
Data from two other fish wholesalers were collected beginning in 1983 and continued until early 1987 by which time both had left the business. One other major fish wholesaler and several other important retailers who make purchases directly from fishermen have begun operating since then, and are providing data to WPacFIN by using the invoices given to them through DAWR.
Although a proposed law has been introduced several times that would require reporting by dealers and possibly commercial fishermen, it has never made it very far through the legislative process and the commercial landings data collection system remains voluntary.
All tables and figures of commercial landings information included in this web site are provided with the consent of the participating dealers.
Data Collected
The original version of the Commercial Fisheries Receipt Form came from the Guam Fisherman's Co-op and contained the following information ;
Controlled Invoice Number, Fishermen's names, Date received, Number of fishermen, Hours fished times number of fishermen, Area fished, Fishing Method, Species caught, Number of pieces caught, Pounds caught, Price per pound and total value.
The first revision to this form collected the same data but changed the listed species to be more in line with what was coming in.
Ehu, Kali-Kali and Uku were added, while Alfonsin, Giant Wrasse, Hitting Feda, Mullets, Kona Crabs, Squid ,Turtles and Lemu Algae were deleted. Only one category of imported fish is allowed and the Unknown, Assorted and Fillet categories were deleted. Two lines were added for Mahimahi and Wahoo to account for the larger quantities of these species
The current version of the Guam Commercial Fisheries Receipt Form allows for data from other commercial fish wholesalers and adds the Amberjack species.