Sport Angler Science

Sport Angler Science is an opportunity for recreational anglers to record their experiences at sea. The purpose is to provide a new data point for assessments of near shore (State Waters) Rockfish. Valuable information regarding near shore rockfish is missing, namely comprehensive angler experiences. ODFW collects information via Fish Checkers at the dock. The checkers can measure, take samples and count anglers catch. Dockside oral surveys miss the experience on the water and worse can be misleading. The most valuable information missed are the fish that were released. The fish released have everything to do with the health of the fishery.

There is broad support in the Pacific Fishery Management Council for Sport Angler Science. It was introduced  to the PFMC at the March 2025 meeting. A Proof – Of – Concept project was launched in Oregon after that meeting. Data was gathered via a paper form. Fourteen anglers volunteered to participate. Forty eight reports were completed between March and October. The results were presented at the November PFMC meeting. The primary focus of the presentation was on Black Rockfish, the one fish that controls Oregon bottomfish fishing regulations. The results of the project showed that twice as many Black Rock Fish were released than were recorded in the RecFin database used by assessors. More important the size length data was captured for each fish released. Fish size data, which can be related to fish age is not available anywhere for fish released by sport anglers.

Sport Angler Science cannot proceed as a paper based program. So, Sport Angler Science is now available electronically on cell phones as a Google Forms application. It has been made as simple as possible with drop down menus, multiple choices and minimum need for key entries. Those anglers who wish to participate will be emailed a link to the form. Select the link and the form is available. This year the form will be available to volunteer participants. This provides an opportunity to observe how the form works for numerous users and the results which are captured in Google Sheets (a spreadsheet). Adjustments will be made as necessary and then the plan is to make the link available to all Oregon anglers.

Some anglers have voiced a concern that data collected regarding released fish will be used by ODFW to reduce fishing quotas due to release mortality. This won’t happen because only those who are working with me to improve Sport Angler Science will have access to the data collected. Changes in near shore fish assessments are expected and Sport Angler Science will be more important than ever before. Please consider volunteering to participate. Thank you.

Questions can be sent to Steve Godin at [email protected]