Saltwater fishermen will soon have sign up for angler registry

(Sept. 4, 2009) A new national registry of saltwater fishermen is poised to go into effect in a few months with the goal of creating a phone book of anglers who can be contacted to gather catch data. Maryland anglers will be required to sign up for the registry.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, all recreational saltwater anglers must register their name and contact information with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries service. The registry will help NOAA to improve its capability to survey anglers and get a more accurate picture of how many fish of each species are caught each year.

There will be no charge for anglers to sign up with the registry in 2010, but a charge will be levied in future years. Anglers less than 16 years of age or more than 65 years, those only fishing on a licensed charter boat, those holding a highly migratory species angling permit and commercial anglers are exempt. Anglers in other states such as Delaware that already require registration do not have to re-register since their contact information is already in the system.

The angler registry is part of a larger NOAA initiative to safeguard the longterm health of the nation's marine resources called the Marine Recreational Information Program. The program's purpose is to improve the way recreational fishing data is collected and reported to produce the most reliable information necessary to manage fish stocks and their environment.

"We know how important sport fishing, and the tourism that drives, is to the town of Ocean City," said Forbes Darby, recreational fisheries coordinator with NOAA, at Tuesday's Ocean City Council meeting.

The annual registration cost starting in 2011 has not been set, but Darby said it would only be as much as required to administer the program. That might not end up applying to Maryland anglers, because the state wants to create its own registry next year via either a combined Chesapeake Bay-coastal license or two separate licenses that would likely cost less and eliminate the need to register with the national list as well.

Once the registry goes into effect, anyone caught fishing without a registration number will face a fine, Darby said.

"Why are we putting in another layer of information sharing? How does this help the fish?" Councilman Joe Hall asked.

Darby said the national registry will "create a phone book of fishermen" that can be quickly surveyed to gather more accurate data on catch levels. Currently, the government randomly calls coastal households, hoping there is an angler living there, so ensuring that 100 percent of the calls reach a fisherman will ensure more and better data.

"We can get better harvest estimates, therefore better management plans," said Gina Hunt, deputy director of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service.