Electronic Logbook Study in Port Aransas

If you're a regular at one of the many recreational docks in Port Aransas, you may have seen me, or my partner Katie, waiting for an offshore charter boat to return to dock. Last August we were hired as contractors for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to gather data for a pilot study on the effectiveness of electronic logbooks in the recreational for-hire fishing industry.

Anyone with a rod and reel or tackle box in the closet knows that recreational fishing in Texas is a big deal. Texas has the second largest recreational fishing industry next to Florida. In 2008 the industry brought a whopping $3.2 billion to the state. Unfortunately, many of our marine fish are too popular for their own good and many are – or have been – overfished. In 2006 the National Research Council independently reviewed the biological and financial state of the Gulf of Mexico and recommended the use of logbooks to manage a healthy fishing industry by collecting catch and effort data on for-hire recreational fishing. The use of logbooks was further endorsed in 2009 by a workshop hosted by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP).

So how are these logbooks used to manage a fishery and why should we bother? The concept of a logbook is to make it convenient to collect self-reported catch and effort data from fishermen that are both timely and accurate. By analyzing harvest (how many fish are caught) and how much effort (time and equipment used) it took to catch those fish, we can monitor a fishery for any problems and recommend regulations to protect or improve the fish populations. For example, if fewer fish are landed but fishing effort has increased - either by an increase in fishermen or the time fished on the water - it would indicate that the stock may be overfished or undergoing overfishing.

The goal of fisheries managers is to find a balance between harvest of the fish and long term productivity of the fish populations to create a viable industry that can be sustained for future generations to enjoy.

Before logbooks can be used as a management tool, we first have to test their effectiveness. Two pilot study areas were chosen: the Panhandle area of Florida and the Port Aransas area in Texas, both of which have active charter boat industries. For-hire vessels, commonly called "six-pack boats," with a Federal Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish and/or Pelagic Fish permit in these areas, have been participating and reporting to the program since last September 2010.

Charter boat captains enter data either on-line or via paper logbooks on each trip they took. For each trip they report their fishing effort (number of passengers and anglers, fishing time, gear type, and targeted species) and catch (number of fish for each species, general fishing area, depth fished and target species).

Katie and I helped set up each boat with the on-line reporting tool, but our main role is in a validation process we use to analyze the effectiveness of logbook reporting. We do this through three methods: roving status validations, dockside intercepts of returning vessels, and at-sea observations of fishing activity. We sample more often in the summer because of the increased fishing activity. Roving status validations are done three to five times a week and monitor who is out fishing on a particular day. Between two and 15 times a month we will wait at a specific dock for charter boats coming in that day. We ask each charter boat about their trip including what they caught, how deep they fished how many anglers they had, etc. We also measure all of the fish they bring back for biological data. The final and most enjoyable validation tool is at-sea observations where we tag along on a fishing trip to observe the fishermen in action.

While waiting on a dock for a charter boat to come in, a passerby will sometimes ask Katie or me if we enjoy our jobs. I usually find it hard not to laugh, though I do end up grinning. Of course we both love this project. Both Katie and I grew up fishing the inland streams and lakes of central Texas. When our families brought us down to the Gulf coast for vacations we couldn't wait to get on the water whether it was surf fishing or helping out on a crab boat. Now we are able to give back to the coast a bit, helping to keep the fishing good for future generations.

This project was initiated in August 2009 when MRIP hosted a workshop on fishery management for representatives of the for-hire fishing industry, who voiced their support for the use of electronic logbooks. It has been the charter boat owners, captains and crew here in the Port Aransas area and their support which have helped this pilot study the most. Whether it's by reporting regularly, answering survey questions or helping us hang fish on our scales they always go out of their way to help us with this project. Kudos and many thanks to them!