49 



Current systematic data gathering obtains little of the data needed 

 to determine OSY for marine recreational fisheries. The main source of 

 data has been the Statistics and Market News Division (SMND) of the National 

 Marine Fisheries Service. This division (and its counterpart in the old 

 Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife) has completed three national surveys 

 of marine recreational fishing, 1960, 1965, and 1970, and is in the process 

 of completing a fourth survey. These surveys are well known as the Salt 

 Water Angling Surveys. The first three surveys were national in scope. The 

 fourth survey will cover the whole nation, but in three separate, distinct 

 surveys: the Northeast, the Southeast, and the Pacific area. These surveys 

 in the past have gathered data, for each of seven regions, on the total 

 number of participants by 79 species, the total number of fish caught and 

 total weight of fish caught by species. 



These data are also gathered, by species and region, for area of fish- 

 ing (ocean vs. river, bay or sound) and by method of fishing (private boat, 

 charter boat, bridge, pier or jetty, and beach or bank). Hence, the data 

 gathered by SMND gives a good picture of item (1), the total number of fisher- 

 men. However, because no trip data have been gathered in the past, item (2) 

 is missing and there is no feel for the total sports fishing effort. 



The Salt Water Angling Surveys, through the numbers of fish caught and 

 weight of fish caught, do give an approximation of the total catch, by species 

 and region, for the survey years. Past Salt Water Angling Surveys have 

 relied on the ability of anglers to recall their catch over the previous year 

 as the principal method of estimating catch. Staff members of SMND have ques- 

 tioned the ability of anglers to recall accurately data more than two months 

 old, and have redesigned the survey approach for the fourth survey to account 

 for weak recall ability. 



