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Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries
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ISBN 978-0-309-67157-6 | DOI 10.17226/26185
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GET THIS BOOK Committee on Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with
Annual Catch Limits; Ocean Studies Board; Division on Earth and Life Studies;
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Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
Committee on Data and Management Strategies
for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
Ocean Studies Board
Division on Earth and Life Studies
A Consensus Study Report of
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Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2021. Data and Management
Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits. Washington, DC: The National Academies
Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26185.
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Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by
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Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering,
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Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
COMMITTEE ON DATA AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR
RECREATIONAL FISHERIES WITH ANNUAL CATCH LIMITS
LUIZ R. BARBIERI (Chair), Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
St. Petersburg
YONG CHEN, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York
CHRIS DUMAS, University of North Carolina Wilmington
MICHELLE DUVAL, Mellivora Consulting, West Chester, Pennsylvania
STEVEN G. HEERINGA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
KAI LORENZEN, University of Florida, Gainesville
SEAN POWERS, University of South Alabama, Mobile
STEVEN SCYPHERS, Northeastern University, Nahant, Massachusetts
TIEN-SHUI “THERESA” TSOU, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia
ZHENGYUAN ZHU, Iowa State University, Ames
Staff
CONSTANCE KARRAS, Senior Program Officer, Ocean Studies Board
ALEXANDRA SKRIVANEK, Associate Program Officer, Ocean Studies Board
TRENT CUMMINGS, Senior Program Assistant, Ocean Studies Board
v
Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
OCEAN STUDIES BOARD
LARRY A. MAYER (NAE) (Outgoing Chair), University of New Hampshire, Durham
CLAUDIA BENITEZ-NELSON (Incoming Chair), University of South Carolina, Columbia
MARK ABBOTT, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
CAROL ARNOSTI, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
LISA CAMPBELL, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
THOMAS S. CHANCE, ASV Global, LLC (ret.), Broussard, Louisiana
DANIEL COSTA, University of California, Santa Cruz
JOHN DELANEY, University of Washington (ret.), Seattle
SCOTT GLENN, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
PATRICK HEIMBACH, The University of Texas at Austin
MARCIA ISAKSON, The University of Texas at Austin
LEKELIA JENKINS, Arizona State University, Tempe
NANCY KNOWLTON (NAS), Smithsonian Institution (ret.), Washington, District of Columbia
ANTHONY MacDONALD, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey
THOMAS MILLER, University of Maryland, Solomons
S. BRADLEY MORAN, University of Alaska Fairbanks
RUTH M. PERRY, Shell Exploration & Production Company, Houston, Texas
JAMES SANCHIRICO, University of California, Davis
MARK J. SPALDING, The Ocean Foundation, Washington, District of Columbia
RICHARD SPINRAD, Oregon State University, Corvallis
ROBERT S. WINOKUR, Michigan Tech Research Institute, Silver Spring, Maryland
Staff
SUSAN ROBERTS, Director
CONSTANCE KARRAS, Senior Program Officer
KELLY OSKVIG, Senior Program Officer
EMILY TWIGG, Program Officer
MEGAN MAY, Associate Program Officer
ALEXANDRA SKRIVANEK, Associate Program Officer
VANESSA CONSTANT, Associate Program Officer
SHELLY-ANN FREELAND, Financial Business Partner
TRENT CUMMINGS, Senior Program Assistant
KENZA SIDI-ALI-CHERIF, Program Assistant
ELIZABETH COSTA, Program Assistant
vi
Copyright National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
Preface
T
he collection of catch data on marine recreational fisheries is difficult, complex, and different
from data collection on 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 (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 assess-
ments 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 difficul-
ties of estimating recreational catches in an accurate, precise, and timely manner with sufficient
spatiotemporal 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 com-
plicates data collection, monitoring, and management. This observation is not new and warrants
the consideration of alternative approaches to optimize MRIP data and complementary data for
vii
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Data and Management Strategies for Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
viii PREFACE
in-season management. In 2018, the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act under-
scored 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 manage-
ment 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 its responsiveness to the many questions and
requests for information during the committee’s development of 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 of the
individuals from Regional Fishery Management 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 its superb National Academies’ staff
for their valuable support and many contributions to the project. Senior Program Officer, Stacee
Karras, Associate Program Officer Alexandra Skrivanek, and Senior Program Assistant Trent Cum-
mings 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 R. Barbieri, Chair
Committee on Data and Management Strategies for
Recreational Fisheries with Annual Catch Limits
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