2. Recreational anglers must report their harvest of Red Drum, Flounder, Spotted Seatrout (Speckled Trout), Striped Bass, and Weakfish (Gray Trout).
The new program will require anglers to report harvest of these five high-profile fish species similar to how hunters report harvest of big game species like deer, turkey, and bear. Currently, recreational harvest information is estimated annually through a federal data collection program called the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). The MRIP survey relies on telephone surveys and dockside reporting to gather angler information. In August 2023, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published a report suggesting that their MRIP estimates of catch, effort, and harvest were inflated in certain surveys by 30-40%. While not intended to replace the MRIP data currently used in stock assessment models, recreational harvest reporting of these five fish species would provide a new index to help inform management decisions.
For example, angler-reported harvest would:
1.assist with quota monitoring for species with short harvest seasons (e.g., Flounder) 2. provide state-collected data to ground truth the federal MRIP estimates, and provide fisheries managers with useful trend data by species over time. NOAA encourages states to collect independent data for use in conjunction with MRIP estimates, and the federal agency has gone so far as to develop a certification process that strengthens the utility of angler-reported data in stock assessments.
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