RESEARCH COUNCIL RECOMMENDS NATIONAL ANGLER REGISTRATION

RESEARCH COUNCIL RECOMMENDS NATIONAL ANGLER REGISTRATION

The system that federal fishery managers and some state agencies use to survey recreational anglers suffers from severe flaws and should be overhauled, the National Research Council announced in late March. As part of the fix, the council called for a national angler-registration program, a concept supported by NOAA Fisheries and included in several Magnuson-reauthorization proposals now before Congress. The council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, presented its preliminary findings to state fisheries directors and sport-fishing industry representatives. Many in the industry have called for better catch statistics and economic data on angling to prove the worth of recreational fishing and to better manage fish stocks. The NRC study targeted NOAA’s Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey, which was designed in the late 1970s simply to identify trends in angling. However, MRFSS has been used to estimate recreational catches for rulemaking.

MRFSS relies on creel surveys taken at public ramps, marinas and beaches and on random phone calls to coastal residents who may not be anglers. The resulting data doesn’t include catches by anglers who launch from private facilities or homes or anglers who fish at night. Sampling the public at large by phone rather than focusing on a pool of anglers also takes more time and costs more money. The NRC study suggested national angler registration as a way to instantly collect better information by providing a specific sample group. However, because NOAA’s jurisdiction is limited to federal waters of the exclusive economic zone, only anglers who fish offshore — or catch anadromous species such as salmon — would be required to register. NOAA hopes the coastal states will agree to implement similar programs to standardize methods for offshore and nearshore/inshore waters. At the late March meeting, state fisheries directors expressed concern about the cost of changing existing license programs. Those from Northeast states and other areas where anglers have strongly resisted licensing are anxious about beginning any registration program. The NRC also recommended treating charter captains as a commercial entity and using different methods such as log books to gauge their catch. Dr. Bill Hogarth, NOAA Fisheries director, said his office will immediately implement a pilot registration program with the Gulf states to develop a standard sampling procedure for anglers and charter guides. Most of the states in that region currently license anglers in some way, and some have conducted for-hire surveys.