Marine Recreational Information Program: Report to Congress on State Partnerships
September 13, 2023
This report is our first update to the 2021 "Plan for State Partnerships" report that details best practices for administering state-federal recreational fisheries data collection programs, and improving survey designs and catch and effort estimates.
This biennial report, developed in consultation with our state partners and Fisheries Information Networks, outlines states’ current status of meeting their agreed-upon recreational fishing data submissions to NOAA Fisheries, estimated accuracy of recreational fishing state registry information, data uses by region, as well as state priorities for improving recreational fishing data collection.
NOAA Fisheries identified multiple collaborative opportunities for improving recreational fisheries data quality. This includes:
- Providing recommendations to partners to ensure state recreational fishing registries are as complete as possible (including compliance and license-exception considerations);
- Working with partners to peer review and certify state-conducted surveys and implement applicable NOAA Fisheries survey and data standards to promote data collection and distribution consistency and quality; and
- Evaluating and establishing statistical goals for regional estimates, as well as evaluating the use of specialized surveys to supplement existing surveys for more timely regional catch estimates.
Under the National Saltwater Angler Registry and State Exemption Program, participating states agree to share either state saltwater fishing license/registration data or state recreational catch and effort survey data with NOAA Fisheries. The Marine Recreational Information Program’s “Report on State Partnerships” is our first biennial report, as required through the Modern Fish Act, to provide a progress update from our 2021 MRIP “Plan for State Partnerships.”