NOAA Fisheries Publishes Updated Historical Recreational Fishing Estimates
NOAA Fisheries has published updated recreational fishing effort and catch estimates for hundreds of species dating back to 1981, reflecting the improved Fishing Effort Survey (FES) design.
Bottom Line: This data revision does not trigger immediate fisheries management changes or adjustments to catch limits. NOAA Fisheries and regional partners will begin integrating the improved data into prioritized stock assessments to help determine the health of stocks and provide new management advice, if warranted, through standard public processes.
The revised estimates will be used in stock assessments in late 2026 going forward. Of note, an assessment for South Atlantic red snapper is scheduled in late 2026, and assessments for striped bass and Gulf of America vermillion snapper are scheduled in 2027. Management advice from these assessments will be made in 2027 and 2028. For more information on regional fishery assessment schedules, visit the Northeast Region Coordinating Council schedule; Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission schedule; Southeast Data Assessment, and Review schedule and the West Pacific Stock Assessment and Review schedule for the full list of species and timelines.
Key takeaways:
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The historical trends in recreational fishing activity remain largely the same, but the updated historical total catch estimates are systematically lower with smaller margins of error. This is because the improved FES design addresses overreporting of private boat and shore fishing trips and produces lower effort estimates.
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The magnitude of the reduction in total catch estimates varies by species since the updated effort estimates differ by state, fishing mode (shore vs. private boat), and time of year.
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Reductions are most pronounced for fisheries occurring in low-activity months via private boat.
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Data outliers across the time series are reduced.
Note: The FES effort estimates are multiplied by the catch-per-trip estimates from in-person dockside interviews to calculate total catch. For-hire effort estimates come from the For-Hire Survey, not FES, and are unaffected by this revision. Highly Migratory Species estimates in the Northeast region are derived primarily from the Large Pelagics Survey. This revision does update information for Southeast HMS species as well as Atlantic and Gulf of America coastal shark species.
Why we made this change: Implementing the updated FES in 2026 and revising the historical estimates is a result of listening to partner and industry feedback, conducting thorough research, and aiming to continuously improve our survey methods and data. An independent peer review panel found the revised FES to be a substantial improvement that produces more accurate data by mitigating overreporting of fishing trips. The calibration model used to rescale the historical estimates was also favorably independently peer reviewed. More detail on the improved FES and calibration model is available here. Each improvement we make to our survey program helps strengthen our scientific understanding of the health of our fisheries, aligning directly with the Gold Standard Science Executive Order (EO) in ensuring our federal decision-making is rooted in the most rigorous and objective science available.
Improving the FES and resulting data also supports the Recreational Angler Partnership Improvement Directive (RAPID), which aims to build a new, modernized state-federal recreational fisheries data collection enterprise. This enterprise will combine all available and approved recreational catch and effort data collection programs to help reduce uncertainty in fishery management decisions. RAPID aims to increase data precision, accuracy, usability, and credibility for all surveys across the partnership.
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