Contact: Patricia Smith
Phone: (252) 726-7021
Date: July 1, 2010

State Expands Saltwater Recreational Fishing Survey Program

MOREHEAD CITY – Saltwater fishermen in North Carolina may get interviewed for recreational fishing surveys this summer at times and in places they’ve never been interviewed before.

The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries has expanded its recreational fishing survey program to improve the quality and quantity of information it gathers for catch and effort statistics. These statistics are essential for making decisions about what size and bag limits are needed to ensure sustainable fish populations.

The division has hired six additional port agents to interview anglers about their catch at times and places where they haven’t been interviewed before. The newly hired staff brings to 28 the number of port agents.

“In the past, we have only been able to assume that anglers catch about the same thing at night as they do during the day, we haven’t had a structured nighttime sampling program,” said Doug Mumford, recreational statistics coordinator for the division. “With these expansions, we will have port agents surveying anglers at night to see if that is true.”

Port agents are also interviewing anglers to determine how many may use private water access sites, which have been left out of survey efforts in the past.

“We plan to increase our survey program by 5,000 interviews, which will provide more accurate recreational catch statistics as well as additional biological data,” Mumford said.

Expansion of the survey program is a critical part of the implementation of the Coastal Angling Program in North Carolina. The Coastal Angling Program is collectively how the division refers to all its recreational fishing data collection programs. It has been made possible through a grant provided by Coastal Recreational Fishing License sales.

Other components of the Coastal Angling Program include:
Using addresses and telephone numbers from the Coastal Recreational Fishing License to increase the contact rate of those contacted for surveys;
Using an electronic reporting system as an alternative method of conducting surveys;
Developing a survey to capture flounder gigging catch and effort;
Sampling upper estuarine waters for anadromous species such as striped bass; and
Participating in the Marine Recreational Information Program, a national survey program

For more information, contact division Recreational Statistics Coordinator Doug Mumford at (252) 948-3876 or [email protected].