Recreational Fisheries

Question 1

Types of recreational fishing

Answer 1

shore, private vessel, charter, party / head boat

Question 2

Common recreational fishing methods

Answer 2

rod & reel / casting, trolling, netting / potting, spearfishing

Question 3

Types of recreational fishing motivations

Answer 3

harvest, sport, time outside, time with friends

Question 4

What are the types of recreational fishing catch statuses?

Answer 4

retained, released due to regulations, released voluntarily

Question 5

Who has a greater population? Recreational fishers or commercial fishers?

Answer 5

recreational fishers > 5x commercial fishers

Question 6

Tools for Managing Recreational Fisheries

Answer 6

Open/closed seasons

Open/closed areas

Minimum sizes/slot limits

Bag limits

Take tags (tag put on fish as it is removed from the water)

Gear restrictions

Question 7

Why is it difficult to manage recreational fishery?

Answer 7

Motivations vary

For commercial fishers, the motivation is pretty clear

Question 8

A lot of people on the water – majority is within the coastal water. Majority of pleasure on the east coast. Why?

Answer 8

• Fewer fishing opportunities in the west coast
• Population is higher along the East Coast.
• Historically more public access to water

Question 9

Why is it important to manage recreational fisheries?

Answer 9

For several species – recreational pressure is the dominate driver in the harvest and landings.

Question 10

Recreational fisheries economic impact compared to commercial

Answer 10

Commercial and recreational have very different economic impact. Recreational has a much lower mortality impacts but economic impacts are comparable.

Question 11

Species that are classified as gamefish

Answer 11

Atlantic Bill Fishes
Tarpon
Striped Bass
Red Drum

Question 12

How do we estimate recreational catch and effort?

Answer 12

NMFS Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS)

Question 13

NMFS Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS)

Answer 13

Started 1979 to collect information on recreational effort, catches and landings

Question 14

What are the two types of data collection for the MRFSS

Answer 14

On-site: anglers intercepted at marinas, boat ramps, beaches, etc.; get catch information (ID)
Off-site: phone interviews of anglers in coastal area codes (primarily effort data, some catch)

Question 15

What was the problem with MRFSS that were brought to light after the NRC report?

Answer 15

Anglers and management did not trust the data
-Huge logistics problem to conduct a statistically valid survey; sampling non-random in many instances
-More anglers, more fishing effort than when initiated
-“Universe” of anglers not well defined (only coastal area codes?)
-Trouble with anglers’ memories (“recall bias”)

Question 16

What were the NMFS commission review’s recommendations?

Answer 16

Universal saltwater rec. fishing registration (even young and elderly)
Redesign survey to be statistically valid, employ more statisticians
Investigate post-release mortality
Rebrand → Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP)

Question 17

MRIP Effort Updates

Answer 17

Effort estimates from mail-based surveys were two to six times higher than those from phone-based surveys

Changes in fishing effort estimates are being incorporated into federal stock assessments (will take several years)

Could affect stock status, annual catch limits, allocations, etc.

Question 18

Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 mandated that NOAA commission a study from the National Academies of Sciences on improving MRIP for use in stock assessment and in-season management. What were the recommendations that came from this study?

Answer 18

Increase temporal resolution of data & estimates (bi-monthly → monthly)

Improve ability to forecast in-season fishing effort, catch

Better integrate existing supplemental data (e.g., state programs)

Assess biases in voluntary reporting programs.