Pallone Questions Fisheries Managers on the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistical Survey (MRFSS)

Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), ranking Democrat on the House Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife, and Oceans Subcommittee, voiced his concerns during a Subcommittee hearing yesterday on current fisheries data collection methods.

Pallone requested the hearing to discuss the need for increased state involvement in administering the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistical Survey (MRFSS), as well as to discuss a federal proposal for saltwater fishing licenses. The congressman invited two New Jersey recreational anglers, Jim Donofrio of the Recreational Fishing Alliance and Tom Fote of the Jersey Coast Anglers Association, to testify at the hearing. Fote and Donofrio were part of two witness panels that included other recreational anglers, fisheries managers, and scientists.

"One of the main problems with the survey is that it is largely run by federal government contractors, not the states," Pallone said. "It is obvious from today's testimony that giving a larger portion of control over to the states will create better confidence in the data."

During testimony, both Vince O'Shea, Executive Director of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) and Larry Simpson, Executive Director of the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission (GSMFC), agreed with Pallone that states should have more control of the MRFSS. However, Pallone expressed concern following testimony from the National Marine Fisheries Agency that the agency continues to support implementing saltwater fishing licenses.

"We are getting closer to resolving the problems associated with the MRFSS," Pallone said. "Unfortunately, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy are still convinced that saltwater fishing licenses are the solution."

"There is a way to fix the MRFSS without having to implement saltwater fishing licenses," Pallone said. "In other states where licenses have been implemented, there is evidence that it just doesn't work. Instead of wasting their time on licenses, they should heed the advice of my constituents and listen to the states who are on-the-ground and experiencing the problems with the survey every day."

When questioned by Pallone on ways to improve the accuracy of the MRFSS data, Donofrio advocated for substantially increasing the number of dock intercepts. "By increasing dock intercepts, you increase the reliability of the survey," Donofrio said.

Pallone also questioned why more federal resources were not dedicated toward the MRFSS. Currently, the Atlantic states' survey only receives approximately $2 million dollars a year and the President's Fiscal Year 2005 budget does not include any increased funding for the program.

"Our recreational anglers spend tens of millions of dollars of their hard-earned tax money on fishing gear and fuel taxes, and they see very little return on their investment," Pallone said. "It's time that the federal government step up and allocate more of this money towards this program, especially since the recreational fishing sector receives less money than the commercial sector for research."

The MRFSS involves intercepting anglers at docks and making random telephone calls in order to collect recreational fisheries data. The survey was intended to show trends in catch by recreational anglers. However, it is now used to provide in-season quota monitoring, which is something the MRFSS was not intended to do.