Lower possession limits and shorter seasons directly reduce for-hire fishing effort in a multispecies marine recreational fishery

Abstract

Managers of recreational fisheries often rely on implicit and rarely tested assumptions regarding how fishing effort will change in response to regulations. For instance, they assume that reduced seasons will directly reduce fishing effort without producing angler behavioral adaptations to maintain fishing opportunities and harvest. Vessel trip reports from a multispecies for-hire fishery in New Jersey, USA, allowed us to empirically evaluate changes in fishing effort as overlapping seasons for four species became shorter and as possession limits decreased. We conducted focus groups with fishery stakeholders and then developed statistical models to evaluate hypotheses describing how anglers aboard for-hire vessels adapted to regulations. Fishing effort aboard charter boats remained consistent and primarily responded to the availability of “something” to harvest, suggesting that their customers are willing to substitute target species. Party boat anglers, in contrast, responded to the possession limits of black sea bass (Centropristis striata) and summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus). Because party anglers were less willing to substitute target species, party vessel operators are likely particularly vulnerable to reductions in fishing opportunity and harvest potential.