# Presentation: 811402

## IMPROVING MARINERECREATIONAL FISHINGINFORMATION

**Marine Recreational Information Program Overview**
**Spring 2008**

## Partnership of public and private organizations coming together to build a new program to improve the collection, analysis, and use of recreational data

- THE INITIATIVE

**Notes:**
An initiative is underway to build a new program to improve the collection, analysis, and use of recreational saltwater fishing information.  Quite simply, the new program will better answer these fundamental questions:  Who fishes?  What’s being caught?  How many fish are caught?  Where and when are they caught?  In so doing, we want the new Marine Recreational Information Program to become the trusted source for saltwater recreational fisheries data.

## WHAT’S THE ISSUE?

**Ever-greater demands for more timely and accurate data**

**Notes:**
Why are we doing all this?  Because regulatory mandates have led to increasing demands for more timely and accurate data on saltwater sportfishing.  Our data collection is not in sync with today’s management needs.

In other words...the surveys were originally designed to track trends.  The Magnuson Act requirements mean that today’s managers need more fine-scale information for in-season quota monitoring and stock assessments.  Bottom line, the data isn’t everything the managers need.  But the scientists are handcuffed by the fact that there’s only so much information one can pull from the existing surveys.  Bottom line - the existing data (square peg) is no longer a fit for today’s fisheries management (round hole).

## WHAT’S IT MEAN TO YOU?

**If we over-estimate harvest...**
- Lower Catch Limits
- Fewer fishing opportunities
**If we under-estimate harvest...**
- Overfishing
- Less Fish to Catch

**IN OTHER WORDS:  Better info, better decisions, better fishing.**

**Notes:**
Why is having good data important to anglers? If our data is inaccurate, one outcome may be that we overestimate how many fish anglers are catching.  This may lead to lower catch limits than necessary to prevent overfishing which in turn results in less access to the resource.
Another outcome might well be that we underestimate the harvest.  In that case, we may be overfishing and damaging the fishery.  That means there are fewer fish available to be caught today and in the future.

## INITIATIVE TIMELINE

**Organizational structure, work groups, and decision-making process created**

**Scientific recommendations and Congressional mandates issued**

**Needs and priorities identified**

**Research and pilot projects conducted**

**Initial project results used to create draft program blueprint**

**Draft program blueprint released for public comment and review**

**Blueprint for new program submitted to Congress**

**Begin phasing in new Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP)**

**2006**

**2007**

**2009**

**2008**

**Current Angler Survey Program**

**Improved Angler Survey Program**

**Proposed Rule issued on Angler Registry**

**National Saltwater Angler Registry requirement goes into effect**

**Notes:**
Meeting today’s demands for data through the MRFSS while simultaneously creating a new Marine Recreational Information Program that anticipates tomorrow’s data needs is no small challenge.  Transitioning from the current system to a new system will not happen over night.  Rather implementation will be an evolution as we run the two survey programs side-by-side and continuously make improvements based on results from the work group studies and projects.  Collectively these efforts are moving us toward a national system of regional surveys that provide increased spatial and temporal resolution and levels of accuracy and precision that we all can have confidence in. These changes being made are significant and will become more evident in the coming months and years. 

## INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC REVIEW

**“****The MRFSS should be completely redesigned” **
** ****-  National Research Council, *****Review of Recreational Fisheries Survey Methods*****, April 2006**

**SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENT: “The lack of a universal sampling frame for all saltwater anglers is a major impediment to the development of a reliable and accurate survey program.”**

**Notes:**
At the urging of our state partners and constituents, NOAA called on the National Academy of Sciences’ independent National Research Council to take an objective look at our saltwater angler surveys.  In the spring of 2006, the National Academy of Science’s independent National Research Council affirmed what many in the fishing, science, and management communities believed - that it was time to make substantial and immediate changes to the way recreational fishing data is collected and analyzed in order to get more credible, accurate, and timely information.

In regards to an angler registry, the NRC urged the establishment of “a comprehensive, universal sampling frame with national coverage.”  They went on to say recommend a “national registration of all saltwater anglers” or “through new or existing state saltwater license programs that would allow no exemptions and that would provide appropriate contact information from anglers fishing in all marine waters, state, and federal.”

## Specific concerns included:
Current catch and effort estimates may be biased high or low because the data collection and analyses are based on unverified assumptions. 

Challenges result from recreational fishing catch and effort estimates produced by multiple regional and state-specific surveys.

Both the telephone and in-person interview components of the surveys have serious flaws in design or implementation that can increase bias. 

The for-hire industry should be considered a commercial sector and so survey methods and reporting requirements should be different from those for private anglers.

**Current catch and effort estimates may be biased high or low because the data collection and analyses are based on unverified assumptions. **
**Challenges result from recreational fishing catch and effort estimates produced by multiple regional and state-specific surveys.**
**Both the telephone and in-person interview components of the surveys have serious flaws in design or implementation that can increase bias. **
**The for-hire industry should be considered a commercial sector and so survey methods and reporting requirements should be different from those for private anglers.**

- INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC REVIEW

**Notes:**
The National Research Council’s key finding was that the existing recreational fisheries surveys work for what they were originally designed to do, but saltwater fisheries management has changed significantly since the MRFSS was created in 1979.  

Here are three key findings from the NRC report...
Potential bias...a large bias means we’re consistently either under- or over-estimating how many anglers there are or how many fish they’re catching. 
Patchwork of surveys, bringing together a variety of data from a variety of sources.
The for-hire industry is more like the commercial enterprise than a private angler...i.e. treat charter and head boats like commercial boats.

## BETTER INFORMATION IS A PRIORITY

**The 2007 Magnuson-Stevens Reauthorization Act called for more accurate and precise fishing information.**

**CONGRESSIONAL MANDATE: One way to improve data is by creating a national saltwater angler registry, a phonebook of marine fishermen.**

**Notes:**
Congress, through the newly reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act of 2006, called on NOAA Fisheries Service to get a more complete picture of recreational fishing and its effect on the marine ecosystem. In cooperation with coastal states, we have done surveys of recreational fishing for 28 years, but the way in which this survey is done has not kept pace with the evolving need for more complete information on fishing practices and fishing results.  Specifically, the MSA called on NOAA to improve data by 1) redesigning the MRFSS and 2) creating a national saltwater angler registry.  

## THE APPROACH

**Get Funding**
**Bring the best minds together**
**Answer the important questions**

## FUNDING

**$8.0 Million**
- Current Recreational Data Collection Program budget
**$1.7 Million** – FY07 MRIP funding (new)
**$3.5 Million** – FY08 MRIP funding (new)

**Notes:**
Funding demonstrates our commitment to making improvements.  The additional monies for MRIP are significant given the current funding levels for the entire program.

## ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

**NOAA Fisheries recently approved funding for 16 research projects including:**
**a nationwide project to explore new methods of estimating catch and effort **
**a nationwide project to develop common data standards across all saltwater recreational data collections programs **
**a regional project to experiment with new ways to count released fish **
**a regional project to conduct effort surveys using a list of anglers**

**Notes:**
The National Research Council report provided over 200 recommendations for an improved saltwater recreational data collection program, and challenged NOAA Fisheries to further examine a number a assumptions made by the current program.  These research project results will help us answer the most important questions, forming the foundation for the new Marine Recreational Information Program.   

## ANSWERING THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

***Just a few of the issues we’re looking at:***
- Can we better estimate catch and release mortality?
- How do we better capture night fishing or fishing from private access points?
- Are there ways to increase angler participation in the data collection?
- What’s the best way to use registries or fishing licenses to sample anglers?

**Notes:**
The third step in our approach is addressing the key questions identified by the National Research Council report, our partners, and constituents.   

## WHY REGISTER ANGLERS?

- 1.  Creates a Universal Sampling Frame
- 		A phonebook of people who fish
- 2.  Improves Efficiency
- 		Contacts only those people that went fishing
- 3.  Reduces Bias through Better Coverage
- 		Reaches anglers outside of just coastal counties

**Notes:**
Why is registering anglers a good idea?
A complete saltwater angler registry helps improve the angler survey approach in three ways.
Creates a phonebook of people who fish.
Uses that phonebook to contact only people who have identified themselves as saltwater anglers about their fishing habits.
Because the survey would contacting anglers regardless of whether or not they live near the coast, the registry helps reduce potential bias in effort estimates. 

## REGISTRY KEY FACTS

- Anglers must register by January 1, 2009
- Only applies to fishing in EEZ and for anadromous fish
- Clear intention that ALL anglers be accounted for
- Feds can’t charge a fee until January 2011

**Notes:**
Recreational angler registry key facts:
Requires NOAA to establish national registry of saltwater anglers beginning January 1, 2009. 
Registration required for individuals that fish recreationally in the U.S. EEZ, the Continental Shelf fisheries beyond the EEZ, and for anadromous species (e.g. striped bass, shad, salmon)
States can exempt their fishermen from the federal registry requirement by setting up their own program and submitting the data (names, addresses, phone numbers) directly to NOAA. 
NOAA shall not collect any fees for this registration before 2011

## ON THE HORIZON

- Regional listening sessions (Winter/Spring 2008)
- Proposed Rule on the National Saltwater Angler Registry (Summer 2008)
- New program blueprint released    (Fall 2008)

**Notes:**
Upcoming milestones:

Over the past several months, representatives from the program have been talking with our partners from across the country at events ranging from fishing shows to council meetings.  These “listening sessions” are important to strengthening relationships and sharing information about our progress toward an improved system of angler surveys.

2.  NOAA has prepared a proposed rule to establish requirements for registering with NOAA come January 2009.  The rule will also specify the processes and criteria NOAA will use for exempting states from the federal registration requirement.  The rule will be released for public comment within the next couple of months.

3. The MRIP team is creating a blueprint for the new Marine Recreational Information Program.  This framework document will provide our vision and outline in greater detail our progress toward an improved data program.  The blueprint will be released in mid-summer.  NOAA will be accepting feedback through the fall with the goal of submitting the program blueprint to Congress by the end of the year.

## Please Stay Connected

**Visit us on the web at:**
- http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/