Within the framework of the UNDP/FAO Project GLO/82/001 arrangements were made for a survey programme with the R/V “DR. FRIDTJOF NANSEN” during 1988 of the shelf region of the northern coast of South America from Suriname to the western border of Colombia. The programme was planned at a meeting called by FAO in Port of Spain, Trinidad 12-14 January 1988, where all the details of the programme including its overall objectives, organization, practical arrangements, work methods, data processing and reporting was discussed and agreed. The main part of the planned work was successfully completed through four surveys during 1988. Preliminary Cruise Reports with outlines of the work done and some main findings were issued after each survey. This report presents an analysis and evaluation of the findings from all of the four surveys viewed as a whole.
It is recognized that the amount of observations and data collected during the four surveys will allow more detailed analyses of the biology and distribution of the commercial species than has been possible in this report. To facilitate such further work data files listing the catch records, biological data and some tabulations are made available, both in printed versions (DATA FILE, Annexes 1-7) and in computer storage form.
