Summary
The National Marine Fisheries Service developed a document, "Shrimp Trawl Bycatch Research Requirements" that set forth experimental and statistical designs for a bycatch research program. Using this document as a template, the Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Development Foundation, Inc.assumed the lead role in the developing of an infra-structural Steering Committee and associated advisory panels that would provide a cooperative approach to addressing the multitude of problems associated with this issue. The Committee and its panels met several times over the course of the project to outline the specific requirements of the document.