Saltwater Information Program Marine Recreational Fisheries catch and effort surveys 2015

Saltwater Information Program Marine Recreational Fisheries
Catch and Effort Surveys
2015
Prepared by Kathy Knowlton, Ryan Harrell and Donna McDowell
June 27, 2016
Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division One Conservation Way Suite 300 Brunswick, GA 31520

Marine recreational finfish data in coastal Georgia are collected through the Saltwater Information Program (SIP) by staff from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division (GADNR CRD). The SIP is a suite of data collection programs reliant upon cooperating anglers and charter captains. Participants are surveyed dockside, as well as by telephone and mail, to determine their catch, harvest and effort (number of trips). This information is used along with biological data collected from donated fish carcasses and tagged fish to manage Georgia's recreational fisheries. Participation in all surveys is voluntary, thus we rely heavily on cooperation with the recreational fishing community. High levels of participation result in more precise and accurate catch and effort estimates necessary for sound fishery management as well as conservation at both the state and federal level. Currently these programs are 100% federally funded with no directed State funds.
CRD staff works in conjunction with the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Fisheries to conduct surveys of coastal Georgia anglers and for-hire charter and headboat captains. These surveys are part of NOAA Fisheries' Marine Recreational
Information Program (MRIP) and produce estimates of finfish catch (including fish released and those retained as harvest) as well as numbers of angler fishing trips (effort). Every three to four years, socio-economic questions are included to estimate economic impact of marine recreational fishing. These data, along with commercial fisheries and other research data, are used to track trends in fishing effort and landings, determine appropriate regulations (e.g., size and bag limits), provide catch data for evaluating the health of the fisheries, and inform fishery management plans.

Marine Recreational Fisheries - Catch
Saltwater anglers returning to public access sites after fishing are asked to participate in a dockside survey. The interview takes just a few minutes to complete, is conducted by CRD personnel, and consists of two major categories 1) Fishing Trip and 2) Catch Information.

Page | 2

1) Fishing Trip: fishing mode (shore, charter or private boat), number of anglers, hours spent fishing, general area fished (inshore vs. offshore), fish species targeted, angler's county, and state of residence.
2) Catch: finfish catch, including species, and number of fish released plus those kept (harvested). For released fish, staff asks whether they were bait, or released alive or dead. Anglers are also asked if their retained fish can be measured and weighed.
Of the approximately 1,900 annual interviews, about 50% are conducted at boat ramps and marinas. The remaining interviews are split between anglers who are returning from a charter fishing trip and those who are fishing from the shore (e.g., pier, dock, creek bank). From March through December, personnel conduct interviews on weekdays and weekends at access sites throughout the six Georgia coastal counties. No estimates of marine recreational fishing in Georgia are generated for January and February as saltwater fishing activity is limited. CRD personnel also conduct at-sea observer trips aboard for-hire headboats to collect lengths of discarded catch.
Page | 3

Marine Recreational Fisheries Effort
NOAA Fisheries conducts a separate survey to determine whether any residents of a contacted household have participated in saltwater fishing during the preceding two months. If they answer yes, a series of questions is asked which allows an estimate of the effort (number of trips) of those anglers fishing from private boats or shore sites to be calculated. NOAA Fisheries is in the process of transitioning from contacting households via landline telephone to a mailbased Fishing Effort Survey (FES). With the increase in cell phone-only households, landline telephone surveys have become highly inefficient. The United States Postal Service address database provides a far more accurate and thorough listing of households. Pilot surveys indicate a very high response rate and timely turn-around for mail surveys. To further improve the efficiency of the FES, a majority of the surveys is mailed to licensed marine recreational anglers. In Georgia, saltwater anglers are identified via the free annual SIP Permit.
Since anglers on charter fishing trips are often from noncoastal counties or out of state, a different survey is used to estimate effort in the charter sector. Every week, 10% of Georgia's active marine fisheries charter captains are selected to participate in a telephone survey. Captains report number of fishing trips, number of anglers per trip, general area fished, and whether any finfish species were specifically targeted. From these telephone interviews, an estimate of the effort (number of trips) of those anglers fishing from charter boats is calculated. This telephone survey is conducted by CRD staff in conjunction with NOAA Fisheries.

Angler Trips by Area Fished

(averaged from 2006-2015)

# Angler

Area

Trips

Inshore (rivers & sounds) 688,402

Ocean <3 Mi.

144,722

Ocean >3 Mi.

38,464

Total

871,588

% Angler Trips 79% 17% 4%

Page | 4

Anglers by Residency Type

(averaged from 2005-2014*)

Residency

# Anglers

% Anglers

Coastal

139,035

46%

Non-Coastal

104,172

34%

Out-of-State

59,845

20%

Total

303,052

* estimate for most recent year not available at publication date

Catch Per Unit of Effort
Data from the various surveys are combined to produce catch statistics such as the catch and harvest per unit of effort (CPUE) graphs below. Catch or harvest (measured in number of fish) per angler trip (i.e. effort) can then be compared across years as one indicator of stock status for popular sportfish such as spotted seatrout and red drum. For the years represented in the graphs, catch per angler trip (including released fish) has been more variable while harvest per angler trip has been fairly consistent.

Page | 5

Carcass Recovery Project
The Marine Sportfish Carcass Recovery Project takes advantage of the fishing efforts of hundreds of anglers by turning filleted fish carcasses that would normally be discarded into a source of much needed data on Georgia's marine sportfish. The project is a true partnership of saltwater anglers, charter captains, marine businesses, conservation groups, and CRD. The Georgia Power Foundation has also been instrumental in providing supplemental funding.
Chest freezers are placed near fish cleaning stations at select locations along the Georgia coast. Each freezer is marked with an identifying sign and a list of target fish species. Cooperating anglers and charter captains place filleted carcasses and a completed information card in a bag, and then place the bag in the freezer. CRD staff collects the frozen carcasses, and later identify each to species, measure length, determine sex when possible, and remove otoliths (i.e., "ear bones"). The otoliths are then analyzed using computer-aided image analysis to determine the age of the fish. This is accomplished by taking a thin cross section of the otolith and counting the rings (similar to counting the rings on a tree cross section to determine age). The age-at-length data from the carcass recovery program can then be used to estimate the ages of harvested fish of various lengths collected through the MRIP and other surveys. These age and length data provide estimates of reproductive spawning potential (e.g., approximately how many eggs a
female fish of a given length produces in an average spawning season), all of which are critical pieces of data used for assessing the status of fishery stocks and making appropriate management recommendations. Since 1997, a total of 60,848 carcasses have been donated by anglers and processed for information. In 2015, CRD staff processed a total of 3,696 sportfish carcasses from eight finfish species.
Page | 6

Cooperative Angler Tagging Project
The cooperative endeavors between anglers, charter captains and CRD continue through the Cooperative Angler Tagging Project. CRD staff enlist participants to tag species of concern and gather information on growth, habitat preference and movement. Hook and line anglers are instructed in proper fish handling and tagging techniques. When a tagged fish is recaptured, data collected include number of days at large, length and status (e.g., released, harvested). This information is used to calculate growth during the time at large and total distance traveled (including north/south, east/west, and seasonal movement). Targeted species include primarily red drum, tripletail, and black drum. Since 1987 the project has enlisted over 175 participants to tag and release over 6,300 fish from eight different species. This effort has resulted in over 350 recapture events.
Page | 7

Additional Information
Expenditures from marine recreational anglers in Georgia account for $200-350M in annual sales impacts to the economy of Georgia.
Of the roughly 270,000 SIP permits obtained in 2015 by recreational anglers, 90% were Georgia residents.
The 2015 estimate of 590,000 angler trips occurring in Georgia is 26% below the five year average of 794,000 annual angler trips.
Spotted seatrout is the #1 targeted marine sportfish in Georgia, followed by red drum and whiting (southern kingfish).

Pertinent Websites
GADNR Coastal Resources Division Saltwater Information Program (SIP) permit MRIP recreational fisheries information & data queries Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program South Atlantic Fishery Management Council Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission

coastalgadnr.org coastalgadnr.org/SIP countmyfish.NOAA.gov accsp.org safmc.net asmfc.org

GADNR CRD Marine Fisheries Section staff contact information
Carolyn Belcher - Research & Surveys Program Manager, Carolyn.Belcher@dnr.ga.gov Chris Kalinowsky - Biologist, Carcass Recovery Project (northern region), Chris.Kalinowsky@dnr.ga.gov Dawn Franco - Biologist, Marine Recreational Fisheries Catch Survey, Dawn.Franco@dnr.ga.gov Donna McDowell - Biologist, Cooperative Angler Tagging Project, Donna.McDowell@dnr.ga.gov January Murray - Habitat Restoration & Enhancement Unit Leader, January.Murray@dnr.ga.gov Kathy Knowlton - Fisheries Statistics Unit Leader, Kathy.Knowlton@dnr.ga.gov Patrick Geer - Chief of Marine Fisheries, Pat.Geer@dnr.ga.gov Ryan Harrell - Biologist, Carcass Recovery Project (southern region), Ryan.Harrell@dnr.ga.gov Shawn Jordan - Access & Development Project Coordinator, Shawn.Jordan@dnr.ga.gov

Page | 8