Catch and Effort Estimates for Hawaii Charter Fishing: Comparisons Between Surveys/Monitoring and Fishermen Reports

The goal of the study was to help improve the current for-hire sector reporting system and to gather better information on recreational fisheries in Hawaii. To identify gaps in the commercial marine license (CML) fishing reports submitted monthly by charter boat captains/operators, charter fishing activities were monitored at four major charter harbors. Fishing trips were counted for 30 consecutive days at all four harbors in the winter of 2009 and again at the two most active harbors in the spring and summer of 2010. The report rates varied from 50% to 69% among the four harbors for boats on the CML charter list, with fishing trips (accounting for 11% to 39% of the reported trips on each harbor) observed from licensed boats which submitted DNF (Did Not Fish) reports or didn’t submit fishing reports. There were many likely charter trips from boats that were not on the CML charter list, especially at the two most active harbors. These likely charter trips could account for ~50% of the reported trips at one harbor. At another harbor, the charter trips from boats not on CML charter list were close in comparison to the reported charter trips. The catch for bill fish (including blue marlin, striped marlin, and short bill spearfish) reported in 2009 CML fishing reports at the largest charter harbor was compared with a charter desk catch report, and the report rates were 61-68% for kept catch and 76-89% for released bill fish. Based on the results from this study, we will provide recommendations to Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources to reduce non-reporting and under-reporting for charter fishing, an important sector of recreational fisheries in Hawaii.