Strategic Plan for the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program, 2002-2006

This document presents the strategic plan for the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) for the years 2002-2006. Its purpose is to guide implementation and further development of the program. The plan: (1) Reaffirms the program's mission to be the single, integrated source of data for Atlantic coast fisheries management; (2) Presents the partners' vision for the next five years; and (3) Sets key program goals and describes strategies to accomplish them. The strategic plan for 2002-2006 builds on the program's four basic principles: (1) Cooperative development and implementation across jurisdictional lines; (2) Coast-wide data collection standards and a single, integrated data management system; (3) Data on all fishing activities -- commercial, recreational, and for-hire fisheries; and (4) A modular design.The ACCSP is a cooperative state-federal program to design, implement, and conduct marine fisheries statistics data collection programs and to integrate those data into a single data management system that will meet the needs of fishery managers, scientists, and fishermen