# Presentation: 711783

## Recreational

**Recreational**
**Data**
**Needs &**
**Opportunities**

**Steve Murawski**
**Office of Science & Technology**
**NOAA Fisheries Service**

##  Stock Assessment: 

**      ****- Catch (landings + dead discards) Numbers & Weight**
**      ****- Catch Demography (length, age, sex, stock area, etc.)**
**      ****- Indices of Abundance (CPUE of anglers)**
**      ****- Ecological information (predator-prey, temperature, etc.)**
** ****Fisheries Management Support:**
**      ****- Catch by Allocation Group (state, time period, sector...)**
**      ****- Data to support management measure evaluation (e.g., **
**        ****bag limits, size limits, closed areas, etc.)**
** ****Economic & Social Data:**
**      ****- Total Participation & Valuation of Recreational Fisheries**
**      ****- Expenditures in fishing & related activities**
**      ****- Revenue generated in rec. fisheries & allied sectors**
**      ****- Economic impacts of management alternatives**

**Good Data are the KEY**

## Saltwater Sportsman

## U. S. Marine Recreational Fisheries in an Economic Context

**Over 17 million participants per year**
**Over 65 million fishing trips per year**
**Over 135,000 metric tons landed per year**
**Economic impact of more than $30 billion**
**Over $22 billion in related expenditures**
**More than 349,000 jobs supported**
**Over $12 billion in related personal incomes**

**Steinback et al. 2004**

## 2003

- VMS

**MPAs**
**Affect**
**Fishers **
**& Catch**

**An Ongoing Revolution**
**In Commercial**
**Data Collection**

## Current Recreational Fishery Sampling Programs

-  **Mix of**** ****State & Federal Programs for multispecies & selected target species groups (MRFSS, state surveys, large pelagic survey, catch cards, etc)**
** ****MRFSS is the most comprehensive – Feds $8 m/yr, States **
**$3 m/yr = $11 m /yr**
** ****Numerous changes in programs over time to address precision Issues for particular species and to account for known biases**
** ****Substantial challenges in providing information necessary to support data requirements for management – unique to rec. fisheries:**

## Challenges of Recreational Fishery Sampling

** ****2 orders of magnitude (>100x) more recreational**
**     ****fishers than commercial; identities only partially **
**     ****known**
**  ****incomplete sampling frames (e.g., angler registration**
**     ****programs by states)**
**  ****for MRFSS – sampling a population of >100 million to **
**     ****determine effort patterns of 10-15 m people**
**  ****large number and variety of target species (some**
**     ****rare events, some common)**
**  ****recreational discards ~60% of catch (increasing trend)**

**Recreational Challenges, continued...**

** ****sampling designs created long before many management needs were developed**
** ****increasing need to provide credible, precise estimates at the stratum level for stock assessment, allocation, and compliance needs **
** ****variations in catch estimates owing to typical problems    with highly stratified estimates (effort X catch rate)**
** ****some issues with QA/QC that have occurred**
** ****possible biases (night fishing, tournaments, private      ****	****access)**

## Opportunities to Improve Recreational Statistics

** ****Increasing awareness of challenges faced with current programs: Focus on narrowing the sampling frame (registration of anglers, use of vessel registrations) ongoing funding limitations, necessity of total effort estimates**
** ****Use of new technologies to improve data precision and timeliness for management (electronic positioning, e-logs, especially for-hire sectors) **
** ****New Study by NRC to evaluate current programs and recommend improvements necessary to support marine management in the future **
** ****Transitioning to new data systems: Exercising Due Diligence when new systems are developed & implemented**

## Priorities for Changing the Sampling Frame:

**Priorities for Changing the Sampling Frame:**

** ****None of the Atlantic states north of Virginia license all recreational saltwater activity. **
** ****South Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific states (ex. Hawaii) each have a license but with various exemptions and confidentiality restrictions (a big issue)**
** ****Administration’s Ocean Action Plan – Help states implement salt water licenses & harmonize state data**

##  Study Panel includes academics, state fisheries people, 

** ****Study Panel includes academics, state fisheries people, **
**    ****non- Federal agency scientists**
** ****Disciplines include survey statistics methods,  social **
**    ****scientists, international experts**
** ****Chaired by Dr. Pat Sullivan (Cornell University) **
**    ****Dr. Christine Blackburn – Staff Director for Study**
** ****First Meeting, March 2005, Washington, DC**
**    ****Additional Field Meetings Scheduled:**
**	****- San Francisco **
**	****- New Orleans**
**	****- Middle Atlantic (NJ, NY?)**
** ****Spring-Summer 2005 due date**

**Recreational Fishery Survey Methods Study – **
**National Research Council – Ocean Studies Board**

## NRC Review: Recreational Fishery Survey Methods

**Do current methods provide statistical quality needed to support current temporal/geographic frames for management?**
**How should frames for management be limited by choice of survey method, stratification scheme, and/or sample sizes?**
**Are there alternative methods or changes to current methods that could improve the quality and utility of fishery statistics?**

**NRC Review: Recreational Fishery Survey Methods**

## Communication Regarding the

**Communication Regarding the**
**National Academy of Sciences**
**Recreational Fisheries Study:**

- _[www.national-academies.org/osb](http://www.national-academies.org/osb)_
** ****go to rec fish study**
**Contact Dr. Chris Blackburn:**
**cblackburn@nas.edu**