"The collection of catch data on marine recreational fisheries is difficult, complex, and different from data collection for commercial fisheries. The complexity of recreational fisheries comes from the vast number of species, fishers, entry locations, fishing seasons, and recreational fishers’ objectives⎯from enjoying a day in nature to catching dinner.
As the magnitude and relevance of recreational fisheries increase, so does the demand for better data collection systems. In 2017, the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), also known as NOAA Fisheries, requested that the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, or “The National Academies,” review the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). This national program provides recreational catch data to support the needs of fisheries scientists and managers who are responsible for conducting assessments of fish stocks and establishing fishing regulations to ensure the sustainable management and use of U.S. fisheries resources. The National Academies convened an ad hoc committee that assessed progress in updating marine recreational fisheries data collection through MRIP over the previous decade, and identified potential areas for improvements or modifications to the program that would increase data quality for sustainable fisheries management. That committee released the report Review of the Marine Recreational Information Program, which concluded that the difficulties of estimating recreational catches in an accurate, precise, and timely manner with sufficient spatio-temporal resolution to inform in-season monitoring and management against annual catch limits (ACLs) may result in management problems for recreational and mixed-use fisheries. These difficulties may also lead to an erosion of trust in the management system among recreational fisheries stakeholders.
While NOAA Fisheries has made improvements to the MRIP program since 2017, questions remain regarding outstanding challenges limiting the extent to which current survey methods in each region meet the needs of the defined in-season management of recreational fisheries with ACLs. In some cases, adherence to ACLs requires short recreational fishing seasons, which complicates data collection, monitoring, and management. This observation is not new, and warrants the consideration of alternate approaches to optimize MRIP data and complementary data for in-season management. In 2018, the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act underscored the many differences between commercial and recreational fisheries management, and called for a new National Academies study on how well the MRIP meets the needs of in-season management of fisheries with ACLs as well as how survey methods or management strategies might be modified to better meet those needs. The National Academies convened the Committee on Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits in 2020 to conduct this study. This report is a result of that effort.
This report captures the collective wisdom of some of the nation’s leading experts in survey sampling and recreational fisheries data and management. I want to express my deep appreciation to every member of the committee for his or her attention, thoughtfulness, and hard work, as well as their wonderful collegiality.
The committee is grateful to NOAA Fisheries for their responsiveness to the many questions and requests for information while developing this report. In particular, we thank the MRIP staff and Gordon Colvin for his guidance throughout the study process. The committee is also grateful to the many individuals who played a role in completing this study. The committee met seven times throughout the course of the study, and would like to extend its thanks to all the individuals from regional councils, NOAA Fisheries, state fisheries agencies, recreational and commercial fisheries organizations, environmental conservation organizations, and others who appeared before the full committee, or provided background information and discussed relevant issues.
Lastly, the committee extends its sincere appreciation to our superb National Academies’ staff for their valuable support and many contributions to the project. Study Director Stacee Karras, Assistant Study Director Alexandra Skrivanek, and Senior Program Assistant Trent Cummings were instrumental in keeping the project on course and ensuring the timely completion of the report without compromising quality. Working with this team has been a pleasure and a privilege." (Luiz Barbieri, Committee Chair, Committee on Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits)
Apreciem sem moderação.
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