SITE TO BRING FISHING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
By PATRICK LYNCH
NEWPORT NEWS — This isn't your father's fish finder.
The Virginia Marine Resource Commission has debuted a Web site aimed at gathering specific, anecdotal information from recreational fishermen about where they're fishing, what they're catching -- and what they're not catching.
The self-reported data will be entered into an accessible database that all anglers can check to see where others are fishing and what's biting.
The site -- www.vasaltwaterjournal.com -- asks for information about: where and how long you fished; what you were fishing for; and what you actually caught.
It's an online version of pre-dawn chatter at the bait and tackle shop.
VMRC officials hope to give anglers a new tool in deciding where to fish. But they also hope to get good data on recreational catches.
"We are asking anglers to help us help them," said VMRC Commissioner Steve Bowman.
Commercial landings and charter boat catches are well reported, but the data on the overall recreational fish from year to year is imperfect, most observers agree. The Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistical Service, run by the National Marine Fisheries Service, was not designed to set catch limits, but that's how it's used now.
Trend data is gathered by random surveys. It often shows dramatic swings in population -- as happened with flounder this past year, leading to a shorter season and larger catch limits.
If the voluntary site is widely used, and after enough data is amassed over several seasons, it could provide a more accurate picture of what anglers are catching. But it also could work in favor of fishermen looking for where to try their luck next.
"Until we see the level of usage, it's hard to tell what we're going to get out of it," said Joe Grist, head of the department of planning and statistics for the VMRC.
Grist said so many fishermen trawl Web forums looking for tidbits and advice, this site seems like a natural extension of that interest.
"This seems to play right into where recreational fishing is going," he said. "It's not just for us but for the everyday angler. If they don't get anything out of it, there's no incentive for them to use it."
Ken Neill III, president of the Peninsula Saltwater Sport Fisherman's Association, said he thinks the site could be a first step toward a better data-gathering system.
"It would give the managers a good idea of what people are fishing for," Neill said.
He also suspected that fishermen might be less likely to report if they don't catch what they were after -- even that information is important. Or, they might want to follow the old tradition of keeping your best spot to yourself.
"It's going to be everyone's tendency to talk about the good catches," he said. "We'll see how much people want to talk. People do kind of want to keep things under their hat if they have good bite."
However, users do not have to share their fishing secrets. They can select an option so that only fisheries managers can see their data.
The site, called Saltwater Fishermen's Journal, applies only to saltwater fishing. It asks for specifics such as what species you caught, the size of the fish, where you caught your fish and whether you kept or released your catch.
There's also space for time of day, weather and water conditions and specifics on bait and tackle used.
Once data starts coming in, fishermen can run specific searches to get reports from the database based on variables such as fish type, fishing spot and time of year.
VMRC also hopes to use some of the data to assess how often fishermen visit its 22 artificial reefs and how plentiful the fish are there. *