The powers that be at NOAA have decided the survey they send out to recreational anglers that is used to estimate fishing effort and success may not be accurate. This survey is then put into the mix that goes into the Marine Recreational Information Program, and that number drives the regulations we recreational fishermen have to live by.
To quote the news release, “We listened to the concerns of our recreational fishing community, and we took action to investigate their concerns further as part of our ongoing research process,” said Dr. Evan Howell, director of NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology.
The Fishing Effort Survey they send to recreational fishermen from Maine to Mississippi and Hawaii was put together through extensive research and peer-review process. The standard order of questions is to put the easy ones first, then the harder ones last. It seems that did not work so well with this pilot study.
When they changed the order of the questions, they had fewer reporting errors and illogical responses. The resulting effort estimates were lower for shore and private boat fishing than estimates produced by the current design.
On a personal note, I am concerned about what constitutes an illogical response. Most of the people who work on these projects are not fishermen. What may be perfectly logical to us may seem nuts to a nonfisherman.
The survey will be expanded in 2024. There will be monthly surveys with both the current one and a revised survey so a comparison can be made between the two. It is hoped that with the shorter time frame, the respondents will have a clearer memory and the data will be better.
This is just one piece of the MRIP puzzle. There is also the dockside survey, and that too needs some work. It can only be conducted where the interviewers have permission to go. That means all those mobile home parks and campgrounds on Indian River and Rehoboth bays never see a dockside survey.
I have tried to suggest using an electronic survey that would include every saltwater angler who has a cellphone or computer. We would all fill out the survey when we return from a fishing trip so the data is fresh. The same people who put together the current survey could develop one for computers and cellphones, and every angler who has a FIN number would be required to use the survey. Those who refuse would not be issued a FIN number the following year.
I and lots of other people have been complaining about the MRIP for years, and it looks like our voices have finally been heard. It will still take years until changes, if any, are made, and when they are, there is no guarantee they will be an improvement for recreational fishermen.
Fishing report
With Labor Day in the rearview mirror, we should see fewer folks on the water as school, football games and other fall activities take the place of trips to the fishing grounds. While the weather right after the holiday was certainly not fall-like, sooner or later the air and the water will cool, bringing good fishing for fall-run species such as big blues, false albacore and perhaps a red drum or two.
Surf-fishing comes into its own in the fall. The weather is milder, the bugs are fewer and the fishing should be better.
A lot of folks rig up for big blues and drum. I rig up for big kings, spot and croaker. I enjoy catching these fish as well as eating them.
I have two reasonably light surf outfits that are just right for big panfish. I use a simple top-bottom rig baited with Fishbites bloodworm. I don’t want to get in trouble with the local tackle shops, but I have not bought bloodworms in years. I use Fishbites or Gulp! instead of most baits, except a live minnow when flounder fishing.
I may rig one rod with a floating bucktail and a 5-inch Gulp! twister tail in pink, green or nuclear chicken. Sometimes this rig will attract a big flounder. Another way to fish for flounder in the fall surf is to cast a bucktail adorned with the same choice of Gulp! past the last breaking wave and retrieve it back right up through the wash. Back in the day when we fished live spot for trout, we would catch nice flounder as we brought a spot back through the surf.
As a last idea, should you catch some kings or spot, try using the head of a king or a live spot on a fish-finder rig just in case there may be a big red drum in the neighborhood.
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Eric Burnley is a Delaware native who has fished and hunted the state from an early age. Since 1978 he has written countless articles about hunting and fishing in Delaware and elsewhere along the Atlantic Coast. He has been the regional editor for several publications and was the founding editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman magazine. Eric is the author of three books: Surf Fishing the Atlantic Coast, The Ultimate Guide to Striped Bass Fishing and Fishing Saltwater Baits. He and his wife Barbara live near Milton, Delaware. Eric can be reached at Eburnle@aol.com.
