Non-commercial catch estimation of pelagic species in the main Hawaiian Islands

Oregon Convention Center 

The Hawaii Marine Recreational Fishing Survey (HMRFS) provides non-commercial catch estimates for mahimahi, skipjack tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, blue marlin, and striped marlin in the main Hawaiian Islands. Stock assessments have sought to use HMRFS estimates as strictly non-commercial complements to the mandatory commercial reporting system. HMRFS is known to encounter fishers that sometimes sell their catch. In order to avoid double counting sold catch between the two data sets and provide a wholly non-commercial HMRFS catch estimate (product of catch rate and fishing effort), catch claimed as unsold was used for catch rate estimation following the approach used for the recent main Hawaiian Islands Deep7 bottomfish stock assessment. Annual and grand mean weights were used to convert estimated catch numbers to catch weights, based on the number of weight measurements available for each species. We have collaborated with a working group of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to provide non-commercial catch estimates of the six pelagic species for the Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation report of the Council's Pelagic Plan Team.

Hawaii Marine Recreational Fishing Survey (HMRFS)

pelagic species

non-commercial catch

fishing effort

catch rate

stock assessment and fishery evaluation (SAFE) 

Survey Research Methods Section