The Salt-Water Angling Survey

I THE 1960 SALT-WATER ANGLING SURVEY United States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Servi<:e Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Circu lar 153 fa [ v <) FocuS rOC us rO(u~ FoGS THE 1960 SALT-VVATER ANGLING SURVEY John R. Clark Fishery Research Biologist UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Stewart L. Udall, Secretary FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Clarence F. Pautzke. Commissioner BUREAU OF SPOR T FISHERIES A, TO WILDLIFE Daniel H. Janzen. Director Circular 153 foc. v) FocuS FOC US' TO(US PoGS CONTENTS f Foreword .. Introduction. The survey. Survey technlque The regions ... Species grouping Fishmg methods Weight of the catch. Results .......... Appendlx A- - Defimtion of species groups. Appendix B- -Common name mdex. Appendlx C--Survey methods Introduction The sample. The mterviewing Differences between total partlclpants and sport f sh rm and hunte r s . DehnitlOns . Ap'pendix D- - Rehablhty of estimates. Appendlx E - -Sources of a\'erage ~'ei ht data. FOREWORD Statistics are essential to rational conservation action and reason able public policies about fish and fishing. The quantities caught, the effort spent in the catching, and the geographic distribution of catches are necessary for diagnosing the condition of any fish population. Representing as they do the experience of thousands of people, these statistics provide the best yardstick yet devised for currently measuring abundance, for indicating trouble spots, and for evaluating the effects of remedial measures. Furthermore they can be enor mously useful in geographic studies of species, particularly when supplemented by surveys of research vessels. However, catch statistics are worthy only to the extent that they are reasonably complete and continuous in space and time. So long as commercial fisheries accounted for the great bulk of the sea harvest or at least a constant proportion of it, as they probably did until recent years, these requirements have been fulfilled. But this condition may no longer hold true except in a few highly industrialized fisheries, for many accumulating bits and pieces of evidence indicate that the number of noncommercial salt-water fishermen has been increasing by leaps and bounds, and the total of their catches has reached proportions that can no longer be dismissed as inconsequential. How significant are these changes? To answer that question we must ask others. How many salt-water anglers are there? Where do they fish? What kind of fishes do they take and in what quantities? It is fortunate that the national marine game fish research pro gram was established in time to take advantage of the 1960 National Survey of Fishing and Hunting which provided for a well-designed sampling of the population of the United States to .estimate the magni tude of salt-water angling. The survey could cover only the year of the census, but for that one year could tell us with a high degree of accuracy the numbers of fishermen, the regions where they fished, and the total numbers of fish which they caught. It could give us a fairly good idea of the kinds of fish which they took, and with the help of friends in all of the maritime States we have attempted a rough approximation of the total weights. The following report giving the results of this survey leaves no doubt that people fishing in the sea for recreation contribute very substantially to the nation's production of sea food. The portion of their catches in the total harvest (as compared with that of commer cial fishermen) varies widely among the different species, and for any given species it varies from region to region. Between 1955 and 1960 the number of salt-water anglers increased by 2 million. As this trend continues, conservation problems become increasingly complex, and the necessity for a full accounting of the sea harvest grows ever more pressing. The task of making this accounting will be formidable. It will require a sampling program especially tailored to fit the peculiarities of the problem and a trained personnel to conduct it. Nevertheless, until these are available it will not be possible to maintain a current assessment of the total fishing effort and the total catch of the great majority of food and game seafishes living along the coasts of the United States. L. A. Walford Director Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory lV THE 1960 SALT-WATER ANGLING SURVEY By John R. Clark, Fishery Research BiologIst, Sandy Hook Marine Laboratory, Highlands, New Jersey Sportsmen take a large proportion of the National Survey of FIshing and HuntIng. con total United States catch of many salt-water ducted by the Bureau of the Census for the species of fish. Consequently, in determin Bureau of Sport Fisheries and WildlIfe. ing manls effect on the seafish resources This survey had as Its purpose a deter of the Nation, it is important to consider mination of the economic significance of the sport catch as well as the commercial both sport fishing and hunting. A plan for catch. Nearly complete records of the estimating anglerls catches was included activities of U. S. commercial fishermen by special arrangement with the Bureau of and their catches have been available for the Census. The information resultIng from many years, but statistics for the sport the supplementary salt-water survey IS the catch are sparse. These statistics are subject of this report. difficult to obtain because salt-water We are grateful for the generous assIst anglers are dispersed along thousands of ance which we received from the many miles of shoreline, fishing from boats, persons and agencies shown In appendix E jetties, piers, bridges, and the open beach. in our efforts to obtain average weight data. They fish night and day, 7 days a week, Robert Wicklund assisted in assemblIng throughout the year. Seldom are their the statistics, making the calculations. and catches reported unless they are competing compiling the index of common name s. in contests, and then it is usually only the larger fish that are recorded. California is the only State that con tinuously collects statistics for any sub THE SURVEY stantial part of its salt-water sport fishery, i.e., the catches of party boats. Several other States have made full or partial Survey technique surveys for certain years, but these efforts have been too sporadic to permit estimating The survey consisted of household inter the magnitude of salt-water angling on views of 45,000 persons In 18.000 homes, a national scale. drawn by the method of area probabIlIty When the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and sampling to represent the population of Wildlife began its national marine game persons 12 years of age and older in the fish research program in 1960,1 sOme continental United States. It was not possible measure of the national harvest of salt to include HawaiI In the Survey because the water sport fishes was needed to provide population sample for that State was not the basis for planning research. large enough to provide for relIable catch An opportunity to obtain estimates of estimates by speCIes. the sport catch of salt-water fishes for Of the 45,000 persons Interviewed, 1.750 the whole c9untry was provided by the 1960 salt-water anglers were identified. The interviewers were able to obtain informa 1 Established by Public Law 86-359. which states that "the tion from 92 percent of them. This Infor Sec retary of the Interior is hereby directed to undertake a mation was used to obtain eshmates of the comprehensive continuing study of the migratory marine fish total catch of all salt-water anglers. The of interest to recreational fishermen of the United States. in proportion of the total number of anglers cluding species inhabiting the offshore waters of the United who were interviewed varied from sampltng States and species which migrate through or spend a part of their lives in the inshore waters of the United States. The study area to sampling area, but for the country shall include. but not be limited to research on migrations. as a whole each person InterViewed repre identity of stocks. growth rates. mortality rates. variations in sented about 3,350 anglers. survival. environmental influences. both natural and artificial. Each salt-water angler InterVIewed was including pollution. and effects of fishing on the species. for the asked to report the total number of fIsh purpose of development of wise conservation policies and con which he had caught from tldal waters. structive management activities." bays, and the open sea during 1960, by well to one of the sea-run fresh-water species, area of fishing, and principal trouts, or on the PacIfIC coast tothe green method of fishing. It was made clear to Img or to the white seabass; and the white those interviewed that they should include seabass m turn may be called weakfIsh. only fish caught primarily for sport, not Anglers often Identify fishes only in for sale. A sample of the interview record broad cat ego r i e s such as "flounder," is given in appendIx C. Because of the "shark," or "mackerel." They also often met hod i cal, step-by- step interviewing use such catch-all deSIgnatIons as "shiner" procedure required for maximum stimula or "perch," or any of a number of local tion of recall, the average interview lasted names, such as sally-growler In northern about 45 minutes. New Jersey for the toadfish, Opsanus tau, The plan of the survey IS given in detail or snowshoe aounder in Rhode Island tor in the report of the Bureau of the Census larger summer flounder, Paralicthys which appears in appendix C. dentatus. In preparmg the mterview form for each regIon, we chose the fish name that The regions appeared to be in most common use for that region, and we occasionally added Because of the lImitatIons of samplmg synonyms for clanfication.

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