Problem Description

• Daily trips are made out of Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn, City Island, and Marinas around NYC to take passengers for recreational fishing trips on the local waters.
• City, State and Federal Laws regulate which fish can be targeted, and brought home with limitations on size, numbers, and time of season when one can fish.
• Jurisdictional issues make it necessary to determine when fishing in Federal or State regulated waters.
• In addition to legal regulations, fish enter our waters on seasonal runs. Some fish come when it is cold, others prefer warm water. Fish can be found in different waters at different times.
• Some fish are more popular than others, either for the taste or the fish, or the fun in catching. Some seasons generate excitement for fisherman in local waters, especially tautog and striped bass.
• Captains of fishing boats acquire and share data and hot tips, and otherwise keep certain secret spots to themselves, something that is increasingly difficult in the modern surveillance state.
• In order to remain profitable, Fishing Boat Captains have to juggle a sizeable amount of expert information to remain in business, and then boost sales with well placed reports in the fishing press and among local tackle shops and places fishermen gather.

When it comes to fishing EVERYONE wants the inside scoop, making an expert system perhaps very useful.

Black Fish or Tautog - Fall and Cold Water Fish. Favorite fish in local water. Fun to catch, taste great.	Blue Fish World Migrants - around all year - good fighters, not that tasty	Cod Fish - Staple of Generations of East Coast Households. Numbers greatly diminished and now regulated and even closed in New England
Black Sea Bass: Perhaps the best eating fish in local waters. Very abundant in NY due to conservation efforts, but under close watch by the federal government, especially in southern states. I've seen them sold for $22 a pound in the Union Square Green Market.	Fluke - Very popular, and live close to shore making them inexpensive to fish for when in season.	Striped bass are the queens of the NY Fishing scene. They fill a niche similar to Salmon in other places, traveling up and down the Hudson River, and Chesapeake Bay is large runs. Not legal to keep in Federal Waters. They are closely watched and currently have a limit of one fish a trip, over 28 inches long. This was the fall run a few seasons ago. When news gets out that Stripers are on the run, boats are filled and everyone is happy for a few days.
A prized catch of Striped Bass that fed the family for a few days.	Huge Porgy - known as Scups, are the backbone of the NYC fishing fleet.	When Scup are around they are fun to catch and can be gotten by the buckets.

This is a prototype system which can be substantially expanded and improved on.