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Feature Articles
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Coordinated effort to gather 'for-hire' vessel catch data
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This article is reprinted with permission of Commercial Fisheries News, the Northeast's fishing newspaper for over 30 years, ©2003 Compass Publications Inc. Commercial Fisheries News is published monthly; annual subscriptions are $21.95. To subscribe or request a sample issue: call (877) 263-4496; fax (207) 367-2490; e-mail (cfoster@fish-news.com); or click on the hot link.
WASHINGTON, DC - Fishery managers are about to get a much better handle on the amount and kinds of fish harvested by recreational fishermen who use "for-hire" vessels.
The Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Statistics Program (ACCSP) announced on June 9 the beginning of a coastwide "For-Hire Survey" composed of weekly telephone sampling of charter/party/headboat captains, in-person interviews with for-hire vessel patrons, and dockside observations to validate the information gathered through the interviews.
ACCSP is a partnership of 23 fisheries management agencies, including the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC), the three Atlantic fishery management councils, the 15 Atlantic states, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and others.
The mission of ACCSP is to design, implement, and conduct coordinated, integrated marine fisheries statistics data collection programs that meet the needs of fishery managers, scientists, and fishermen. The program is based at ASMFC headquarters in Washington.
Although catch interviews have been conducted since 1981 through the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS), the results often fell short of the needs of scientists and managers.
"The traditional MRFSS never gave us adequate estimates of catch and effort from charter boats and headboats," said Bruce Joule of the Maine Department of Marine Resources. "The modified for-hire procedure has proven a far better method for getting information from the for-hire industry, both in statistical accuracy and precision."
Added Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries Director Paul Diodati, "Creating a new system to improve data collection from for-hire patrons is long overdue. Better information will allow managers to develop more flexible management recommendations in the future."
For more information on the new survey program, call your state fisheries agency or visit the ACCSP web site at www.accsp.org/forhiresurvey.html.
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