ROCKFISH FROM THE RECREATIONAL FISHERY

The Recreational Fisheries Information Network (RecFIN) provides estimates of recreational catches separately for three ‘types ’ of recreational catch. Type A catch estimates are based on “sampler examined catch ” and represent landed fish. Type B1 catch estimates are based on “angler reported harvested dead catch ” and may represent fish that were landed but not observed by the sampler, fish that were released dead at sea, or a combination of these depending on the year and region. For Oregon, type B1 estimates currently represent only fish that were released dead at sea. Type B2 catch estimates are based on “angler reported released alive catch”. Catch is estimated in units of numbers of fish, which may be converted to weight of catch via multiplication by stratified estimates of average weight. All three RecFIN catch types contain estimates of unidentified rockfish in at least some years for Oregon, but because the primary interest here is accounting for fishery mortality by species, this report focuses on addressing type A and B1 estimates