FWC Get Your Gulf Reef Fish Survey Act Together

[Harmsway]

Okay, so I didn't mind filling out and returning FWC's Gulf Reef Fish Survey questionnaire the very day I received it in the mail. There, I did my duty.

A few weeks later I received another solicitation from FWC to complete the survey. "If you have filled out the questionaire and returned it to us, thank you!" Round filed it. I was only a little annoyed that FWC was wasting our money on redundant postage (and administrative labor). I figured it was the usual government inefficiency at work.

Today I received ANOTHER solicitation from FWC. Now I'm upset.

FWC, I sent you my survey as promptly as humanly possible. Capture it!

You're wasting precious resources. I recon you've squandered at least 10% of my fishing liscence fee harassing me to send you survey questionares that I already returned to you. I guess it could have gotten lost in the mail; yeah, right.

Not to mention how your apparent lack of effective record-keeping is likely to screw up the results. What if I sent you three responses? Would you throw two out, or count all three?

I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

[Gulf Coast]

[Dubble Trubble]

LOL, we got our licenses about a month ago, and have yet to receive a survey. And, we did answer yes to the reef fish question.

Maybe they do not send them to out of state folks.


Dubble

[Rhettley]

I haven't gotten mine either.

[EddieJoe]

I haven't gotten mine either.

Not everyone will get surveyed. A sample of the total will be surveyed, or so they claimed. However, the effort portion of the survey was supposed to be by phone, not mail. Catch data will be collected at access points, where fish will be counted, measured, and weighed, etc. I told the idiots that they needed more access point intercepts, and that after the fact mail data would be flawed.
For more intercepts, they didn't need to force everyone to get a Gulf Reef Fish permit, uh, I mean sign up for the "survey". Instead they need to see what the actual catch is at the dock or ramp.

When I complained to the FWC arrogant staff and Commissioners about the fairness and accuracy of any post fishing mail survey they just blew me off. Looks like I was right: they don't seem to have a clue how to do this job. A post catch mail survey (and the longer after the fishing event the worse) will greatly inflate the results, which is exactly what we don't want.

EJ

[Harmsway]

Looks like I was right: they don't seem to have a clue how to do this job. A post catch mail survey (and the longer after the fishing event the worse) will greatly inflate the results, which is exactly what we don't want.

EJ

[zload]

Somebody at FWC reading the forum? Email from today:

July 15, 2015
Suggested Tweet: Gulf Reef Fish anglers provide data for new @MyFWC survey. #floridafishing #reeffish
FWC Enlists Gulf Reef Fish Anglers to Provide Data

As part of its goal of working with anglers to improve data collection and management of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is asking for anglers’ assistance through participation in the Gulf Reef Fish Survey. This new data collection program will improve how recreational catch is monitored and provide information needed to ensure sustainable fisheries in Florida.
As of April 1, 2015, saltwater recreational anglers fishing from private boats off Florida’s Gulf coast (excluding Monroe County) are required to sign up for the survey if they intend to harvest, attempt to harvest or possess any of the following reef fish species: red snapper, vermilion snapper, black and red grouper, gag, gray triggerfish, banded rudderfish, almaco jack, lesser amberjack, and greater amberjack. Anglers enrolled in the Gulf Reef Fish Survey may be selected to receive a questionnaire in the mail to report information about their recent recreational fishing trips. Additionally, FWC biologists will meet anglers at marinas and boat ramps to collect information about their catch that day.
Anglers’ participation in this focused survey will help improve estimates of recreational fishing efforts and catch for use in management decisions specifically for reef fish. The information gained from this monitoring program will assist state and regional fisheries management agencies in their mission to ensure a healthy and sustainable resource and to maximize recreational fishing opportunities in Florida. Participants who are contacted by FWC and agree to provide information will be entered into a drawing to win an annual, 5-year or lifetime recreational saltwater fishing license.
“The success of this new data collection program not only depends on anglers signing up for the Gulf Reef Fish Survey, but also, if selected, responding to questionnaires and dockside interviews,” said Beverly Sauls, research scientist with FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. “Without reliable information on all fishing activities, managers are often forced to take conservative measures to ensure overfishing does not occur. Information collected from the Gulf Reef Fish Survey will help managers provide optimum recreational fishing opportunities in Florida”.
For more information about the Gulf Reef Fish Survey and specific species covered, visit MyFWC.com/research, click on “Saltwater” and select “Gulf Reef Fish Survey” under “Commercial and Recreational Fisheries.”
For more information about who is required to sign up for the Gulf Reef Fish Survey and how to get started, visit MyFWC.com/fishing, and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” then “Recreational Regulations” and “Gulf Reef Fish Survey.”

[EddieJoe]

Somebody at FWC reading the forum? Email from today:

July 15, 2015
Suggested Tweet: Gulf Reef Fish anglers provide data for new @MyFWC survey. #floridafishing #reeffish
FWC Enlists Gulf Reef Fish Anglers to Provide Data

As part of its goal of working with anglers to improve data collection and management of fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is asking for anglers’ assistance through participation in the Gulf Reef Fish Survey. This new data collection program will improve how recreational catch is monitored and provide information needed to ensure sustainable fisheries in Florida.
As of April 1, 2015, saltwater recreational anglers fishing from private boats off Florida’s Gulf coast (excluding Monroe County) are required to sign up for the survey if they intend to harvest, attempt to harvest or possess any of the following reef fish species: red snapper, vermilion snapper, black and red grouper, gag, gray triggerfish, banded rudderfish, almaco jack, lesser amberjack, and greater amberjack. Anglers enrolled in the Gulf Reef Fish Survey may be selected to receive a questionnaire in the mail to report information about their recent recreational fishing trips. Additionally, FWC biologists will meet anglers at marinas and boat ramps to collect information about their catch that day.
Anglers’ participation in this focused survey will help improve estimates of recreational fishing efforts and catch for use in management decisions specifically for reef fish. The information gained from this monitoring program will assist state and regional fisheries management agencies in their mission to ensure a healthy and sustainable resource and to maximize recreational fishing opportunities in Florida. Participants who are contacted by FWC and agree to provide information will be entered into a drawing to win an annual, 5-year or lifetime recreational saltwater fishing license.
“The success of this new data collection program not only depends on anglers signing up for the Gulf Reef Fish Survey, but also, if selected, responding to questionnaires and dockside interviews,” said Beverly Sauls, research scientist with FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. “Without reliable information on all fishing activities, managers are often forced to take conservative measures to ensure overfishing does not occur. Information collected from the Gulf Reef Fish Survey will help managers provide optimum recreational fishing opportunities in Florida”.
For more information about the Gulf Reef Fish Survey and specific species covered, visit MyFWC.com/research, click on “Saltwater” and select “Gulf Reef Fish Survey” under “Commercial and Recreational Fisheries.”
For more information about who is required to sign up for the Gulf Reef Fish Survey and how to get started, visit MyFWC.com/fishing, and click on “Saltwater Fishing,” then “Recreational Regulations” and “Gulf Reef Fish Survey.”

The majority of this press release has been on the FWC website from the start. No change, no new information. If you do follow the directions to the website information, you will get nothing at all new. Nothing.

Not that there should be big time results already, but by now the staff will know pretty much how participation is working, or not. Subjecting everyone to a mandatory, write you a ticket sign up for a survey that amounts to a permit, even those exempt by law from license or permit requirements, was a jump in faith the FWC made in our faces. Is it legal? Probably not, but you have to sue to prove otherwise. Is it worth screwing anglers to get data points? Not so far, but the Commission is arrogant as can be. Might be someday, but they are providing no data to demonstrate that jacking around every angler to satisfy their whims was worth the trouble. Might work out.

Standing by. We will see. No results justifying the big jerk around. Just more closed seasons for average guys. Meanwhile, if you have a lot of money, you can hire a guide to take you fishing for ARS, but you can't fish from your own boat. Or you can buy a snapper on ice, or from the restaurant.

EJ