Characterization of the for-hire fishery in the U.S. South Atlantic and regional policy implications

Abstract

Worldwide, recreational fisheries are of growing social and economic importance and recreational landings even exceed the commercial sector in some locations within the United States. However, there are continuing challenges to managing recreational fisheries, with respect to monitoring recreational participation and catch as well as satisfying a heterogeneous angler population and diverse management objectives. The southeastern U.S. is an epicenter for recreational fishing and is a transitional ecosystem, extending from subtropical Florida waters to the more temperate North Carolina ecosystems. Using participatory methods to gain insights from local knowledge, combined with data from standardized recreational monitoring programs and social media photos, we describe the dynamics of the for-hire fleet across the region with a particular emphasis on Dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), a species of primary importance. We describe the landings composition, reliance of the fishery on different species based on their seasonal availability, and analyze how this varies across regions. Trends from a social media analysis are consistent with existing recreational monitoring programs and support the perspectives of fishermen gathered during a series of workshops. We show significant differences between landings characteristics in Florida versus North Carolina and Virginia, which underscores the need for subregional considerations when implementing management regulations across the jurisdictional scale. We also describe how our methods could be used to inform species landings associations and potential effort shifts, provide early warning signals for range shift or other changes in the fishery, and give insights relevant to innovation in recreational fisheries management.