Frequently Asked Questions about MRIP
- What is fisheries management?
- What role do recreational anglers play in setting recreational fishing regulations?
- How will MRIP improve the way scientists determine fishing activity?
- How will improvements under MRIP impact recreational fishing regulations?
- What is the "big picture" thinking behind MRIP?
- What can I expect if I get surveyed by phone or mail, or interviewed by a dockside sampler?
- Why haven't I ever been surveyed?
- Does recreational fishing actually have that large of an impact?
- Has the sportfishing community been involved with the development of MRIP?
- What is the National Saltwater Angler Registry and why was it created?
1. What is fisheries management?
The Department of Commerce's NOAA Fisheries Service is entrusted with ensuring the long-term health of ocean fisheries and other marine life in federal waters. By doing so, NOAA helps saltwater anglers enjoy rewarding days on the water, commercial fishermen earn a good living, and residents living along our coasts experience a good quality of life.
NOAA Fisheries works with the states, eight regional fishery councils, and three interstate fisheries commissions to regularly review the health of hundreds of ocean fisheries. They use this information to decide how many fish can be taken recreationally and commercially without negatively affecting the long-term health of individual fisheries. They also ensure appropriate measures are taken to recover fisheries in trouble.
For more information about fisheries management in general, and how MRIP is helping to improve the quality of data used in the process, view the 2011 MRIP brochure
2. What role do recreational anglers play in setting recreational fishing regulations?
Scientists, stakeholders, public officials and many others all have a hand in making recreational fishing regulations. But if you’re a fisherman, the process ultimately revolves around you.
- As an angler, you’re on the front line of conservation. The decisions you make about when you fish and what you keep have a real impact on the resource, and on how fisheries are managed.
- As our “eyes and ears” on the water, you’re a major source of data. What you tell us about how often you fish and what you catch is vital information that helps us understand what’s happening in the fishery.
- As an engaged constituent, your input at regional meetings, through your fishing club at Council and Commission meetings, and at public forums, ensures that recreational fishermen have a voice in the management process.
3. How will MRIP improve the way scientists determine fishing activity?
Data collection has traditionally been conducted through survey sampling consisting of telephone interviews to measure effort (how many people are fishing during a given period, and how often) and in-person field sampling to estimate catch (the number, size and species of fish). These practices will continue with MRIP, but many survey elements related to both data collection and analysis will be updated and refined to address issues such as data gaps, bias, consistency, accuracy, and timeliness.
Among these improvements is the development of a National Saltwater Angler Registry, providing a much more efficient and effective means of collecting effort data, and MRIP’s new methodology for estimating catch, which produces more accurate data by removing the potential biases in the way we calculate estimates. (For more information, see the Re-Estimation Fact Sheet)4. How will improvements under MRIP impact recreational fishing regulations?
Since it’s not possible to count every fish caught right as it’s landed, managers have to wait until catch estimates are available before they can determine the allowable catch for any given species. If the numbers show that too many fish were caught during one fishing season, adjustments have to be made to ensure recreational fishing is sustainable for future seasons. MRIP will help to reduce the two kinds of uncertainties fisheries managers must consider: those inherent in the process of survey sampling, and those that result from the time required to develop estimates.
- Better methods we’ve implemented will make our estimates more accurate right out of the gate, improving the decision-making process.
- Gathering more data through increased telephone and intercept surveys will enhance the precision of our estimates.
- As MRIP evolves, it may be possible to shorten the time it takes to make estimates, reducing the lag time between fishing activities and management actions.
5. What is the "big picture" thinking behind MRIP?
MRIP is about improving the reliability of fishing data and providing better estimates; it is a tool that will enable all parties to use the same yardstick by which to measure important fishery management decisions. MRIP is not a silver bullet to solve all our management problems. Implementing a new data program will not necessarily mean that individual fishermen will be able to catch more fish than they can under current regulations.
To facilitate the shift away from single-species management toward an ecosystem-based approach, MRIP is more than a one-size-fits-all survey. Rather, when fully implemented the program will be made up of an interconnected system of surveys, each targeted toward particular segments of the fishing community (for-hire, private anglers, highly migratory species) and regions of the country. To ensure the integrity of the data and maintain scientific rigor, these regional surveys will all adhere to a consistent set of national standards. This allows NOAA, the states, the fishery management councils, and the recreational community itself to most efficiently capture information from these important segments.
Anglers who participate in sampling efforts may not immediately notice many differences, as some of the changes to recreational fishing data program will be taking place behind the scenes. The process will be similar to rolling out a new car that looks similar to previous models, but under the hood is a completely redesigned engine. Taken together, the changes under MRIP will help managers better conserve ocean resources and ensure fishing regulations are fair and effective.
6. What can I expect if I get surveyed by phone or mail, or interviewed by a dockside sampler?
NOAA Fisheries hires telephone interviewers to contact anglers about their effort, or the number of trips that were taken during a specified period. If you are called and agree to participate in an interview, you will be asked the number of trips you took in the preceding two months. Given the challenges of remembering catch for a particular day and correctly identifying fish species, you will NOT be asked about catch on the phone. The ONLY purpose of the phone interview is to sample effort.
NOAA gathers information about your catch a different way. After a day of fishing, you may be asked to participate in an in-person interview. Government samplers work at marinas, boat ramps, and shore fishing sites to interview anglers about their trips and count, weigh, and measure their catch. From that information, gathered over time and in various locales, the average catch per trip is estimated. Samplers will NOT ask about how often you fish, as the purpose of dockside sampling is ONLY to estimate catch.
7. Why haven't I ever been surveyed?
Although we talk to thousands upon thousands of fishermen each year through our surveys and dockside sampling, you may never be one of them. By its very nature, random sampling means that some people get interviewed, and some people don’t.
8. Does recreational fishing actually have that large of an impact?
Yes. Recreational fishermen play a significant role as both stewards and users of fisheries. For some species of fish, the recreational catch far outpaces the commercial harvest. In addition, in many communities, recreational fishing is a major economic driver, affecting everything from the hospitality industry to fuel sales to outfitters and small businesses. Accurately capturing the many contributions of recreational fishermen will help to ensure that these interests are properly considered in resource allocation and other policy matters.
9. Has the sportfishing community been involved with the development of MRIP?
Yes. Even the most statistically sound data program can only succeed when it has the support of those who collect, use, and are ultimately affected by the data. That’s why many people, both inside and outside NOAA Fisheries, have been involved throughout the design and implementation process.
NOAA Fisheries has established teams of experts in their fields from NOAA, state fisheries agencies, regional fisheries councils and interstate fisheries commissions, the recreational fishing community partner organizations, the conservation community, and other stakeholders to lead the development of distinct aspects of MRIP.
Everyone who has an interest and a stake in the process has been invited and encouraged to participate from the beginning, and the agency will continue to lead a cooperative and transparent redesign process.
10. What is the National Saltwater Angler Registry and why was it created?
The National Saltwater Angler Registry is a “phone book” of recreational fishermen. The Registry will make it much more efficient to find anglers to survey, and it will include a broader representation of anglers. Instead of asking a random sample of coastal U.S. residents if they’ve gone fishing as is currently done, the registry will allow surveyors to call upon those who have already identified themselves as saltwater fishermen. For example, if you needed a loaf of bread you wouldn’t randomly visit a hardware store or a post office, you’d go directly to a grocery store. Likewise, if you want to know what anglers are catching, it’s much more effective to go directly to the fishermen and ask.