It’s no secret that recreational fishing effort and harvest data is woefully lacking in substance. At the very least, the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) survey analysis administered by NOAA Fisheries and used in fisheries management decisions is questionable at best. New Jersey is hoping to help change that!
The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Bureau of Marine Fisheries utilizes a Recreational Saltwater Volunteer Angler Survey to collect information on recreationally important marine finfish species. Given that current data collection efforts for recreational fisheries are still limited in scope and hindered by small-scale sampling in the angling community, the state of New Jersey is asking saltwater anglers to participate in voluntary catch reporting surveys to provide data that may support alternative management strategies that increase fishing opportunities for the public.
According to the Bureau of Marine Fisheries, the focus of this voluntary survey is to collect information on catch and effort from recreational fishing trips in marine and estuarine waters of the state and surrounding areas. For catch information, fisheries staffers are interested in collecting information on the number and size of both kept and released species; that said, trips with zero catch are also important to report.
There are several ways to participate in the Recreational Saltwater Volunteer Angler Survey, with a reporting form optimized for desktop and laptop computers, another optimized for smart phones, and one simple printable form for reporting summer flounder and black sea bass. Lengths are pre-printed on the printable form allowing for a tally-mark system of rapidly recording fish lengths, which can then be mailed to the bureau or scanned and emailed.
Questions? Email Marine_Survey@dep.nj.gov for additional assistance, and point your cellphone camera at the QR code to go directly to the Recreational Saltwater Volunteer Angler Survey page to help contribute better angling effort and harvest data.
