Federal angler registry to be in place by 2009

[Sean]

::)Federal angler registry to be in place by 2009 :-X



Better collection of fishing data means better knowledge of resources,
experts say


(Nov. 23, 2007) The federal government is working to set up a national
saltwater angler registry by 2009, to help improve how data on
recreational fisheries is collected.

The national registry is being implemented by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency with the primary
responsibility for governing marine resources in federal waters. The
need for the registry was outlined in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, reauthorized by Congress earlier this
year.

Having a registry of all saltwater anglers who fish in federal waters is
expected to help NOAA gain a better knowledge of who is fishing
recreationally, and how many and what types of fish they are catching by
providing the government with a phone book of anglers they can contact
for survey purposes. It will also apply to anglers fishing for
anadromous species, which migrate between salt and fresh water, and
include salmon, trout and striped bass, in both federal and state
waters.

“With commercial fishing we know exactly how many fish commercial
fishermen are taking out of the sea, thanks to mandatory reporting. But
not with recreationally caught fish,” NOAA spokeswoman Susan Buchanan
said.

To estimate recreational landings, contractors currently pick up a
telephone book and call random households within a certain distance of
the coast. If the person who answers is a fisherman, the contractors ask
questions about their latest catches. If the person is not a fisherman,
the contractors try another number.

This is not an efficient system for gathering data on recreational
landings, Buchanan said, as many people who do not fish are contacted
while many who do fish are not. Having a national registry of anglers
will allow the government to go directly to those who are known
fishermen, thus are guaranteed data with every phone call.

“I think we’ll be hitting our target a lot better with the registry,”
Buchanan said.

The data gathered from the surveys will be used to determine the
populations of the fisheries, and if any quotas are close to being
reached. The more accurate the catch data, Buchanan said, the more
accurately NOAA can manage the fisheries.

“Any time that we can get more information on fishing efforts and
by-catch mortality, that’s a good thing for the resource and for the
public,” said Brooks Mountcastle, mid-Atlantic regional organizer for
the Marine Fish Conservation Network.

States that already have registry or permitting systems that gather the
same information as the national registry will be allowed to continue
using their systems and simply share the information with NOAA. Maryland
currently requires anglers fishing in the Chesapeake Bay to get a
saltwater license, but not for fishing in the coastal bays or Atlantic
Ocean, so every angler in the state is not yet accounted for.

In the beginning there will be no charge for anglers to sign up for the
registry, but starting in 2011 there could be a fee applied. Any fees
collected through the federally-operated registry would go directly into
the U.S. Treasury, while those collected by states that have their own
registry systems would go back to the state to support the fishing
industry.

“Generally I think fishermen will applaud this, they will be getting
better science. They always point out that the science is weak, the data
collected is weak,” Mountcastle said.