Recommendations for Monitoring Florida's Recreational Highly Migratory Species Fishery

Each year, over 2 million recreational anglers travel from across the U.S. and overseas to experience Florida’s diverse fisheries.  The annual influx of visitors, along with an additional 3 million local anglers, comprises the largest recreational fishery in the world and sustains a for-hire fleet numbering in excess of 2,000 charterboats and guides.  This includes directed fisheries for billfish, swordfish, Atlantic tunas, and sharks, which are collectively referred to as Highly Migratory Species (HMS).  Since 1980, the primary method for monitoring Florida’s recreational fishery has been through the Marine Recreational Fishing Statistics Survey (MRFSS).  HMS-targeted trips comprise a small portion of all recreational fishing trips combined, though, which makes them a “rare event” in any survey that is not directly targeting this specific segment of the recreational fishery.  As a result, catch estimates for nearly all HMS species are highly imprecise due to typically low MRFSS positive catch intercept sample sizes.  A more directed sampling approach is required to adequately monitor HMS fisheries.  Under the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP), directed telephone and access point surveys were conducted from May 2008 through June 2009 to estimate the relative scope and magnitude of HMS recreational fishing in Florida.  These pilot studies were conducted to guide the development and implementation of future data collection programs to more effectively monitor HMS recreational fisheries throughout the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Formal recommendations are presented to improve upon the existing monitoring programs and establish a new directed HMS recall survey.  These include design modifications to the MRFSS to 1) ensure the CPUE sample is more representative of trips returning at different times of the day, 2) improve geographic resolution of catch and effort estimates relative to the distribution of HMS fisheries, and 3) reduce the extent of under coverage biases pertaining to private access, tournament, and nighttime fishing.  In addition, the initiation of a directed recall survey is recommended for long-term monitoring of the increasingly popular recreational fishery for swordfish.  Lastly, a census of landings of quota-managed HMS is necessary, but results of this study confirm compliance rates with the mandatory Federal reporting requirement of recreationally landed sailfish and swordfish catches are low.  Thus, recommendations are made to improve upon the enforceability of the reporting requirement while minimizing the reporting burden on anglers.