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OVERVIEW
Rarely does a saltwater recreational fisheries management decision get made without debate arising over the recreational fisheries catch and effort methodology and its resulting estimates. Demands for better and more specific information on saltwater sportfishing have skyrocketed since the first angler survey began in 1979. The program has evolved into a suite of state and federal surveys that operate throughout the nation including the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Surveys (MRFSS), For-Hire Survey, and Large Pelagic Survey (LPS). Originally designed to track trends, the surveys have been asked to provide more detailed information for stock assessment and management as required by the Sustainable Fisheries Act and more recently the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act. Unfortunately, even with those improvements, the surveys have had trouble keeping pace with the dynamic needs of fishery managers leaving them without a clear picture about the health and sustainability of the resource.
Independent Review Urges Upgrade
The MRFSS was analyzed by the National Research Council in an april 2006 report “Review of Marine Recreational Fishing Survey Methods”. The panel of independent scientists concluded that there are a number of serious flaws requiring immediate attention. The Report identified deficiencies in the sampling methodologies and included a lengthy list of recommended changes they felt applied not only to the MRFSS, but also to many of the state-level surveys. They advised NOAA Fisheries and the states to rethink the way they do recreational fishing surveys to improve their transparency, effectiveness, and applicability to today’s fishery management practices.
Congress Echoes Call for New Ways to Count Fish and Anglers
Congress, through the recently reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Act, also called for improvements to the way the nation manages saltwater fish and understands recreational fishing. This legislation, the primary fisheries law for ocean waters, outlined two ways for improving the way recreational fishing information is collected and analyzed. The first is by creating an angler registry, essentially a phonebook of saltwater fishermen, and the second is by upgrading the existing recreational fisheries surveys.
Joint State-Federal-Angler Initiative to Improve Recreational Fishing Information
Following the release of the National Research Council report in April 2006, a collaborative state-federal-constituent process was initiated to respond to the recommendations by assessing and redesigning how recreational data are collected, analyzed, and used. In September of 2006, biologists, fisheries commissioners, and state managers from throughout the country met at a national data workshop to discuss regional and national recreational fisheries statistics requirements. The participants asked NOAA Fisheries to prepare a blueprint to address both the National Research Council recommendations and Magnuson-Stevens Act requirements.
By the spring of 2007, NOAA Fisheries responded with the Development Plan for Improving Recreational Fisheries Statistics. The plan created a structure of committees and work groups to design improved surveys, improve communication, and develop a registry of anglers. At the top of this structure is the Executive Steering Committee (ESC), made up of the chairs of the interstate fisheries commissions, prominent members of the fishery management councils, NOAA Fisheries, and NOAA’s Marine Fish Advisory Committee. The Executive Steering Committee is advised by a communications group and an angler registry group.
The Executive Steering Committee established an interdisciplinary Operations Team to coordinate day-to-day implementation of the redesign process. As a first step, the Operations Team consolidated and prioritized recommendations from the National Research Council review, National Data Requirements Workshop, and the Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act. Five expert work groups were created to address those recommendations related to their area of expertise including survey design, data analysis, data management and standards, for-hire, and highly migratory species. Over the coming year, each group will propose projects that feed into an integrated plan for an improved marine recreational information program. The goal is to have a new program plan in place by June 2008 with implementation of the plan occurring over the next several years.
Better Information Leads to Better Decisions
It’s difficult to conserve fisheries or fairly allocate catches if managers don’t have good information on how many people are fishing, what they are fishing for, and what they are catching. Over the next several years, this team of scientists, managers, and anglers will make incremental improvements to build a marine recreational information program that provides good quality data on fishermen’s catch and effort and allows for the timely, fine-scale adjustments required by today’s managers. Having quality data leads to confident decision-making about how best to conserve marine ecosystems for present and future generations. |
