Recreational Fisheries Meta Data - Preliminary Steps

Progress Reports (PDF): SOEST-JIMAR report, FY 2004, FY 2003, FY 2002, FY 2001

Project Overview
The revised Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act requires its Fishery Management Councils to:

"...specify the pertinent data which shall be submitted to the Secretary with respect to commercial, recreational and charter fishing in the fishery, including, but not limited to, information regarding the type and quantity of fishing gear used, catch by species in numbers of fish or weight thereof, areas in which fishing was engaged in, time of fishing, numbers of hauls."

Project researchers will be working with fisheries research and management organizations as well as local fishing clubs, tournament organizers and charter fishing operators. Emphasis of data collection will be on fishing effort, catch composition, and fish size information. Project researchers hope to obtain personal logbooks from long-time recreational and sports fishermen, including charter boat captains. An interim project report will be presented at the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council's Recreational Fisheries Task Force meetings. At that time, specific information needs will be prioritized and incorporated into the development of a comprehensive, integrated computer database. A final project report will summarize the information that will be available from the meta-databse, provide a preliminary evaluation of its utility, and identify methods for continuing database input.

Year 1 funding for this project received November 2000.

Dr. Samuel Pooley
National Marine Fisheries Service
Southwest Fisheries Science Center
Honolulu Laboratory
2570 Dole Street, Room 219
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 USA
Phone (808) 983-5320
FAX (808) 983-2902
email: spooley@honlab.nmfs.hawaii.edu