Article by Dale Timmons
Joe O’Hara has probably been involved with discussions on the summer flounder fishery and the MRFSS (Marine Recreational Fishery Statistical Survey) and its shortcomings as long as anyone in this area, and I daresay he probably knows as much about all of the numbers as even the fisheries officials who administer the program and ultimately decide our fate when it comes to flounder fishing. After I wrote about Senator Schumer’s bill a couple of weeks ago, he sent me an e-mail, along with a copy of his e-mail to the MRFSS management officials. I think it makes a lot of sense, and it shows you just what anglers are up against, so I would like to quote Joe in full. First, his note to me:
“I'm not a big fan of Senator Schumer either. He does support recreational fishing. When they were reauthorizing Magnuson-Stevens in 2006, he successfully lobbied for a 3-year extension of the summer flounder recovery period. We need additional legislation. I doubt if recovery by 2013 is doable.
The reduction in quotas is a problem. The way NMFS counts our landings (MRFSS) is a bigger problem. My email to MRFSS management will bring you up to date. The Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) will replace MRFSS. This system will be more efficient. Random digit dialing will be replaced by phone calls to anglers on the National registry. The rest of the system will have the same flaws as MRFSS. They will continue to make inaccurate estimates of our summer flounder landings, unless they address the issues in my email.”
Joe’s e-mail to MRFSS management: “Maryland's summer flounder recreational anglers continue to have problems with MRFSS landings estimates. MRFSS gets more bad press in Worcester County than anywhere else in the United States. I realize that MRFSS was designed to show large-scale trends in recreational harvest and that it was not designed to establish or monitor quotas. Unfortunately, it is being used to monitor quotas and we are suffering the economic impact.
Our problems with MRFSS summer flounder landings started in 1995. Very few fish were caught in the coastal bays that year. MRFSS said we landed 139,697. In 1996, the Maryland Saltwater Fishermen's Association started maintaining logs of their summer flounder fishing trips. In 1997, we realized that we had an estimate of angler success, but we needed an estimate of fishing effort. We counted boats, anglers and inclement days in 1997 and 1998. The headboats gave us their totals. We had approximately 100,000 trips for all modes and areas. Our landing estimate for 1998 was 95,000. MRFSS said we landed 206,057. The irony here is that the MRFSS landings for 1998 became the base year for each state's quota.
In February of 2002, MRFSS management briefed us on MRFSS procedures. Unfortunately, we didn't know what questions to ask.
In 2003, I reviewed all of the summer flounder intercepts for 2002. I discovered that all but two fish were landed in the coastal bays and the southern counties in the Chesapeake Bay. I shared my analysis with MRFSS and Maryland's Department of Natural Resources. I requested that they investigate counting landings at the county level.
I recently reviewed the last seven years of summer flounder intercepts. Two fish got lost at Sandy Point state park and one wandered into Deale. All the rest were caught in the southern part of Calvert County (mouth of the Patuxent river), and St. Marys, Somerset, and Worcester counties. In 2008, 96.2 percent of the summer flounder intercepts were recorded in Worcester County. Ninety seven percent of the anglers in the phone survey do not target summer flounder. Last year, there were 3,391,181 angler trips in Maryland. Only 3 percent targeted summer flounder. Other states may have a problem when the species being surveyed is not evenly distributed in the survey area. In our case, summer flounder do not like the habitat in one of the most heavily fished areas in the nation. Our landing estimates are way off when the 97 percent of trips targeting other species are multiplied by a disproportionate number of summer flounder intercepts.
One way to improve the accuracy of the estimates is to filter the 3,391,181 trips thru county angler profiles. The angler profiles would be based on historic intercept data: species, wave and mode. This way trips in Anne Arundel County would be counted as striped bass, spot and bluefish. Worcester County’s private/rental inland trips during wave 4 would count as Atlantic croaker or summer flounder. Survey calls would be based on the percent of population in each county.
At our briefing in 2002, MRFSS used an example showing how they arrived at the estimated landings of 2001 private/rental, wave 4 summer flounder landings. Their estimate was 55,827. I used the same intercept data, but just counted counties that had summer flounder landings (Somerset - 2, Worcester - 36 ). My estimate was 19,353, which is a 65 percent reduction.
During the period 2002-2008, there were 22 interviewer assignments to shore sites. On 17 of these assignments (77 percent), only one fish was landed. Three fish were caught surf fishing on Assateague Island and one fish off the ocean pier for a total of four fish caught in the ocean from shore. Three intercepts were coded incorrectly (ocean instead of bay). Only one fish was caught from shore in the Chesapeake Bay (jetty at Point Lookout State Park). This gives you an idea of how productive fishing from shore for summer flounder is in Maryland. MRFSS said we landed 112,201 summer flounder from shore.
The most productive shore site is the Route 50 bridge. During the 7-year period, 27 keepers were caught or 69 percent of the shore total. A maximum of 60 anglers fish the bridge June-August. There are 30 or less the rest of the year. MRFSS estimated that we caught 14,962 keepers in September, 2008. There were 3 intercepts (3 fish) on the Route 50 bridge on September 30. If 3 out of 30 anglers caught one fish each, the estimate for September would be 90 fish. One other fish was caught at the jetty on September 28. If we allow another 90 fish for the other shore sites, the total would be 180 for September. You have the data. Use the Worcester county phone survey and the 4 intercepts. There were 1,800 contributors, counting the anglers that got skunked.
At the constituent data review meeting, I asked why you didn't show the number of anglers that got skunked on the summer flounder catch frequencies. The response was that it will be shown in the future. I understand that when the quantity of fish is less than the number of anglers (contributors), the difference would be skunked trips. I am primarily interested in "no catch" reports. Bob Gowar, Captain of the Bay Bee, had 4100 anglers in 2008. They landed 244 keepers or .06 fish per angler trip. At least 94 percent of the angler trips were unsuccessful. You monitored the Bay Bee 6 times in 2008. On four trips, there was 1 keeper. Bob probably averages 20 anglers per trip. My question is, was there a "no catch" report for the 19 that got skunked? You had 1 fish for 20 contributors or a catch per unit of effort of .05.
Summer flounder fishing in the coastal bays is concentrated in 5 areas: Route 90 bridge, flounder alley (32nd street), Thorofare, inlet and Sinepuxent Bay. In 1997 and 1998 the daily boat counts ranged from 19 to 508. The average was 145. There were 2.6 anglers per boat. Almost all of the boats drift fish. MRFSS estimated our private/rental inland landings for 2008 at 72,430 fish. In order to catch that number of keepers, we would need 1,207,167 angler trips or 464,295 boat trips. Approximately 2,170 boats would have to be fishing each day from April thru October. Intercept activity at private/rental sites is also slow.
During the 7-year period, on 66 percent of the assignment days, the interviewer had to weigh fish from a single boat. On a really busy day, 2 boats were interviewed (21 percent).
Up until 2001, MRFSS estimates only cost us some fish dinners. In 2001, we had a 13-day closure in the middle of the summer. This was followed by a 17-day closure in 2002. Ocean City is a family resort. Vacations occur in the 10-12 week window when the kids are out of school. When we have to close the summer flounder fishery, there is no reliable alternative fishery. The tourists change their vacation plans when they find out they cannot catch dinner. Each day of closure takes away $170,000 from the Worcester County economy. Losses occur on rental properties, restaurants, marinas, headboats and bait and tackle shops. The rental losses are family owned condominiums with a boat slip. The rental income helps pay the mortgage. The estimate is based on losing 1/2 of 1 percent of weekly rentals. The total estimated cost for 2001 is $2,210,000. The estimate for 2002 is $2,890,000. This year we are forced to close the fall season. This has been a very profitable time for ocean for-hire boats. Accurate estimates of Maryland's summer flounder landings would have prevented these closures.
I think MRIP should be web-based trip reports. You can get rid of the intercepts and phone calls. This would fill the holes in the current system: anglers that dock at private locations, night fishing, unsuccessful trips, and timely monitoring of quotas. I guess the argument against this approach is that you cannot trust the recreational angler. These are the same people you call to determine fishing effort.
I would appreciate a response. You can tell me that I am full of it, but I prefer to hear that you understand these issues and will attempt to correct them.”
Amen…
I want to wish “good luck” to all the anglers and crews fishing in this weekend’s Ocean City Tuna Tournament. I’ll be helping weighmaster Capt. Jack Kaeufer at the scales again this year. Hope to see you there…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
