Recreational Management: Can Management Fit the Available Data? RICHEN BRAME CCA Regional Fisheries Director Presentation to Gulf States Marine Fisheries March 15, 2017
Commercial and recreational fisheries are fundamentally different activities, yet they are often managed with the same goals and tool box.
Commercial Fisheries Managed for yield (MSY) Relatively few fishers and ports Catch measured in pounds in real-time Quotas can be enforced Efficient
Recreational Fisheries Many should be managed for expectation Abundance Age structure Access Millions of participants, thousands of landing locales Significant time lag in reporting catch estimates Inefficient
The Problem Using harvest estimate to quota manage, often in-season Time Lag Landings reported 45 days after a 2 month wave Standard Errors often large Using projections to determine ACL Anglers react to actual population
Key Difference Commercial harvest counted; recreational harvest is estimated, with a standard error. The Percent Standard Error is standardized, the actual standard error is about twice the PSE. Thus a PSE of 20 is actually a SE of 40. Catch = 100,000 fish, 95% sure the catch was somewhere between 60,000 and 140,000 fish.
Key Difference: Recreational Fisheries Respond to Abundance 18000000 Striped Bass Harvest Vs Trips 3,000,000 16000000 14000000 2,500,000 12000000 2,000,000 Trips 10000000 8000000 1,500,000 6000000 1,000,000 4000000 2000000 500,000 0 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 0 Pvt. Boat Trips SB Numbers
- John Carmichael, SAFMC Staff
Current Fisheries Management Stock assessment done at best every 3-5 years or longer Abundance unknown in the interim In commercial fisheries managers directly control harvest, usually in real time In recreational fisheries they manage behavior to control harvest
Yet Managers Use Same Tools For Both Hard Poundage or Number ACLs Accountability Measures
Result for recreational fisheries Hard ACL management can lead to noncredible management measures: - Dr. Gary Shepherd, NOAA Fisheries
Results for Recreational Fisheries Hard ACL management can lead to noncredible management outcomes. - Population increasing, ACL exceeded and closures or reductions result - Population decreasing, ACL not exceeded and everything appears fine - In season closure can lead to panic fishing
Management Should Be Different it may make more sense from both fiscal and management effectiveness standpoints to adapt management approaches, tools and strategies to reflect available information rather than doing the reverse. (Recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Recreational Fishing Data, TRCP 2010)
Management Should Be Different Recommendation: Evaluate whether the design of MRIP for the purposes of stock assessment and the determination of stock management reference points is compatible with the needs of inseason management of annual catch limits. If these needs are incompatible, the evaluation should determine an alternative method for in-season management. NSA Review of MRIP 2017
New Management Paradigm Needed for Recreational Fisheries Primarily recreational fisheries identified ACL could be a fishing mortality rate Abundance must be measured annually or semiannually
Species Numbers % Cum % 1. Spanish Mackerel 1,798,705 0.21 0.21 2. White Grunt 1,369,897 0.16 0.38 3. Grey Snapper 1,247,152 0.15 0.52 4. Red Snapper 715,668 0.09 0.61 5. Vermilion Snapper 503,769 0.06 0.67 6. Yellowtail Snapper 415,453 0.05 0.72 7. Dolphin 334,706 0.04 0.76 8. King Mackerel 301,024 0.04 0.79 9. Red Porgy 279,068 0.03 0.83 10. Red Grouper 217,515 0.03 0.85 11. Black Sea Bass 215,911 0.03 0.88 12. Crevalle Jack 194,658 0.02 0.90 13. Gag Grouper 188,153 0.02 0.92 14. Lane Snapper 177,449 0.02 0.95 15. Hogfish 132,580 0.02 0.96 16. Gray Triggerfish 120,726 0.01 0.98 17. Greater Amberjack 64,753 0.01 0.98 18. Mutton Snapper 41,129 0.00 0.99 19. Cobia 31,864 0.00 0.99 20. Scamp 27,364 0.00 1.00
Example Atlantic Striped Bass Stock recovered from low level of abundance, harvest increases dramatically with abundance. 3,000,000 Striped Bass Recreational Harvest 2,500,000 Numbers 2,000,000 1,500,000 1,000,000 500,000 0 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Yet harvest generally stayed under the Fthreshold 0.300 0.250 Fully-recruited F 0.200 0.150 0.100 2015 Assessment 2016 Assessment 0.050 F Target F Threshold 0.000 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Example Atlantic Striped Bass Yet harvest never exceeds allowable F (Ftarget)
Data Needs > Measures of Annual Abundance Direct estimate best, but difficult Perhaps index of abundance Recruitment information > Ranking Important Recreational Species > More frequent update assessments - Look at annual MAFMC Specification Setting