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Entity Info
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Summary

DOI: https://doi.org/10.25923/3kcr-wd15

Abstract

The International Billfish Angler Survey of the SWFSC Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program (CBTP) provides estimates of billfish angling activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This collection of recreational billfish catch and effort has occurred annually since 1969 and provides an index of fishing success in many Pacific billfish destinations.

The SWFSC CBTP sends out surveys (hardcopy from 1969 to 2017, digital from 2017 to 2019) to participating anglers at the beginning of each calendar year to report their catch and effort in the prior year. Anglers report the number of whole fishing days per fishing location as yearly effort, and report billfish catch (kept and released) by species at each location.

The nominal catch-per-unit-effort (nCPUE) can be calculated from catch and effort, defined as the number of billfish caught per fishing day (total billfish caught/total fishing effort). The nCPUE alone should not be taken as a representation of population size or trends, but instead infer a relative index of nominal recreational effort in the absence of comprehensive and systematic fishery-independent data collection. This measure of angler success, tracked over time, can indicate changes in stock size caused by over fishing, changing environmental conditions, or local economic and political events. Only a small proportion of the data are from anglers in the Indian Ocean.

The data presented cover the calendar years 1984-2019 and is grouped by year and location for the following summed metrics: fishing effort (whole days), blue marlin catch, black marlin catch, striped marlin catch, spearfish catch, and swordfish catch.

Description

The summarized survey data contains records of survey responses grouped by survey year and location.

Entity Information

Entity Type
Data Table

Data Attribute / Type Description
year
smallint
Calendar year of survey, which encompasses data for January 01- December 31.
location_cd
tinyint
Numeric code for fishing location where fishing effort for the calendar year took place. Locations are colloquial and not geographically standardized (e.g. 10-minute fishing block, or degrees of latitude). Tag recovery location was provided on the survey form or handwritten in an "other" field.
location
varchar(50)
Location where fishing effort for the calendar year took place. Locations are colloquial and not geographically standardized (e.g. 10-minute fishing block, or degrees of latitude). Tag recovery location were provided on the survey form or handwritten in an "other" field.
ocean
char(16)
The ocean of fishing effort as corresponding to reported fishing location.
effort
smallint
Number of whole days fished in the survey year, regardless of catch (released or landed).
blue_marlin_catch
smallint
The total sum of blue marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
black_marlin_catch
smallint
The total sum of black marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
striped_marlin_catch
smallint
The total sum of striped marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
sailfish_catch
smallint
The total sum of sailfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
spearfish_catch
smallint
The total sum of spearfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
swordfish_catch
smallint
The total sum of swordfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
captain_report
boolean (bit)
Is the data reported by a vessel captain who may be summing the vessel's total catch? If yes, these figures may inflate the year's total catch, as individual anglers may have already reported their catch from that vessel. The SWFSC omits any confirmed captain report to avoid any double-reporting.

Distribution Information

  • ERDDAP is a data server that gives you a simple, consistent way to download subsets of scientific datasets in common file formats and make graphs and maps. This particular ERDDAP installation contains data related to Environmental Research Division projects and collaborations.

Child Items

No Child Items for this record.

Contact Information

Point of Contact
Nicole Nasby-Lucas
nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
858-334-2826

Metadata Contact
Nicole Nasby-Lucas
nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
858-334-2826

Extents

Geographic Area 1

East Boundary - North, Central, and South American Coastline

Time Frame 1
1984 - 2019

The International Billfish Angler Survey was initiated in 1969 and ended in 2019, completing a 50-year time series index. The only available data ranges from 1984 to 2019.

Item Identification

Title: The International Billfish Angler Survey--Summarized
Status: Completed
Creation Date: 2021
Abstract:

The International Billfish Angler Survey of the SWFSC Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program (CBTP) provides estimates of billfish angling activities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This collection of recreational billfish catch and effort has occurred annually since 1969 and provides an index of fishing success in many Pacific billfish destinations.

The SWFSC CBTP sends out surveys (hardcopy from 1969 to 2017, digital from 2017 to 2019) to participating anglers at the beginning of each calendar year to report their catch and effort in the prior year. Anglers report the number of whole fishing days per fishing location as yearly effort, and report billfish catch (kept and released) by species at each location.

The nominal catch-per-unit-effort (nCPUE) can be calculated from catch and effort, defined as the number of billfish caught per fishing day (total billfish caught/total fishing effort). The nCPUE alone should not be taken as a representation of population size or trends, but instead infer a relative index of nominal recreational effort in the absence of comprehensive and systematic fishery-independent data collection. This measure of angler success, tracked over time, can indicate changes in stock size caused by over fishing, changing environmental conditions, or local economic and political events. Only a small proportion of the data are from anglers in the Indian Ocean.

The data presented cover the calendar years 1984-2019 and is grouped by year and location for the following summed metrics: fishing effort (whole days), blue marlin catch, black marlin catch, striped marlin catch, spearfish catch, and swordfish catch.

Purpose:

This dataset is intended for public use for research.

Notes:

This dataset contains summarized data grouped by year and location.

The data reported to the SWFSC from constituents is voluntary and not verified at time of collection by NOAA staff or a credential scientific party, unless specifically indicated as “research” in the Billfish Database. As such, fish weights and lengths, fish condition, and fight time are largely estimated by the angler or captain. Although many location coordinates may be accurately sourced from Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment, all locations are treated as estimates. Blanks are treated as “No data”, as the number “0” is a valid code for some data fields. These data issues should be considered before interpreting any analyses based on SWFSC Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program data.

Supplemental Information:

For detailed information about the operations, methods, and database organization of the SWFSC Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program, please refer to:

Heberer, L.N., Wraith, J., Kohin, S., Gu, Y., Nasby-Lucas, N.D., and Dewar, H. 2021. The NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center Cooperative Billfish Tagging Program Operations and Database. NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-SWFSC-640 at at https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/28449.

DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.25923/3kcr-wd15
DOI Registration Authority: NOAA
DOI Issue Date: 2021-02-26

Keywords

Theme Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None billfish
None black marlin
None blue marlin
None recreational angler
None sailfish
None shortbill spearfish
None striped marlin
None survey
None swordfish

Spatial Keywords

Thesaurus Keyword
UNCONTROLLED
None Pacific Ocean

Physical Location

Organization: Southwest Fisheries Science Center
City: La Jolla
State/Province: CA
Country: USA

Entity Information

Entity Type: Data Table
Active Version?: Yes
Description:

The summarized survey data contains records of survey responses grouped by survey year and location.

Data Attributes

Attribute Summary

Rubric Score Primary Key? Name Type Description
100
Primary Key year smallint Calendar year of survey, which encompasses data for January 01- December 31.
100
Primary Key location_cd tinyint Numeric code for fishing location where fishing effort for the calendar year took place. Locations are colloquial and not geographically standardized (e.g. 10-minute fishing block, or degrees of latitude). Tag recovery location was provided on the survey form or handwritten in an "other" field.
100
Primary Key location varchar(50) Location where fishing effort for the calendar year took place. Locations are colloquial and not geographically standardized (e.g. 10-minute fishing block, or degrees of latitude). Tag recovery location were provided on the survey form or handwritten in an "other" field.
100
ocean char(16) The ocean of fishing effort as corresponding to reported fishing location.
100
effort smallint Number of whole days fished in the survey year, regardless of catch (released or landed).
100
blue_marlin_catch smallint The total sum of blue marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
100
black_marlin_catch smallint The total sum of black marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
100
striped_marlin_catch smallint The total sum of striped marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
100
sailfish_catch smallint The total sum of sailfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
100
spearfish_catch smallint The total sum of spearfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
100
swordfish_catch smallint The total sum of swordfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.
100
captain_report boolean (bit) Is the data reported by a vessel captain who may be summing the vessel's total catch? If yes, these figures may inflate the year's total catch, as individual anglers may have already reported their catch from that vessel. The SWFSC omits any confirmed captain report to avoid any double-reporting.

Attribute Details

year

CC ID: 1088841
Seq. Order: 1
Data Storage Type: smallint
Max Length: 4
Required: Yes
Primary Key: Yes
Status: Active
Description:

Calendar year of survey, which encompasses data for January 01- December 31.

General Data Type: integer
Format Mask: yyyy
Allowed Values: 1984-2019

location_cd

CC ID: 1088842
Seq. Order: 2
Data Storage Type: tinyint
Required: Yes
Primary Key: Yes
Status: Active
Description:

Numeric code for fishing location where fishing effort for the calendar year took place. Locations are colloquial and not geographically standardized (e.g. 10-minute fishing block, or degrees of latitude). Tag recovery location was provided on the survey form or handwritten in an "other" field.

General Data Type: integer

location

CC ID: 1088843
Seq. Order: 3
Data Storage Type: varchar(50)
Required: Yes
Primary Key: Yes
Status: Active
Description:

Location where fishing effort for the calendar year took place. Locations are colloquial and not geographically standardized (e.g. 10-minute fishing block, or degrees of latitude). Tag recovery location were provided on the survey form or handwritten in an "other" field.

General Data Type: character

ocean

CC ID: 1088844
Seq. Order: 4
Data Storage Type: char(16)
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The ocean of fishing effort as corresponding to reported fishing location.

General Data Type: character

effort

CC ID: 1088845
Seq. Order: 5
Data Storage Type: smallint
Required: Yes
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Number of whole days fished in the survey year, regardless of catch (released or landed).

General Data Type: integer
Null Value: Blank
Null Value Meaning:

No value reported.

blue_marlin_catch

CC ID: 1088846
Seq. Order: 6
Data Storage Type: smallint
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The total sum of blue marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.

General Data Type: integer

black_marlin_catch

CC ID: 1088847
Seq. Order: 7
Data Storage Type: smallint
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The total sum of black marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.

General Data Type: integer

striped_marlin_catch

CC ID: 1088848
Seq. Order: 8
Data Storage Type: smallint
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The total sum of striped marlin reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.

General Data Type: integer

sailfish_catch

CC ID: 1088849
Seq. Order: 9
Data Storage Type: smallint
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The total sum of sailfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.

General Data Type: integer

spearfish_catch

CC ID: 1088850
Seq. Order: 10
Data Storage Type: smallint
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The total sum of spearfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.

General Data Type: integer

swordfish_catch

CC ID: 1088851
Seq. Order: 11
Data Storage Type: smallint
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

The total sum of swordfish reported caught (kept or released) at that location and survey year.

General Data Type: integer

captain_report

CC ID: 1088852
Seq. Order: 12
Data Storage Type: boolean (bit)
Required: No
Primary Key: No
Status: Active
Description:

Is the data reported by a vessel captain who may be summing the vessel's total catch? If yes, these figures may inflate the year's total catch, as individual anglers may have already reported their catch from that vessel. The SWFSC omits any confirmed captain report to avoid any double-reporting.

General Data Type: integer

Support Roles

Data Steward

CC ID: 1076335
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Nasby-Lucas, Nicole
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
US
Email Address: nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
Phone: 858-334-2826

Distributor

CC ID: 1076336
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Organization): Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC)
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Dr.
La Jolla, CA 92037
USA
Phone: (858)546-7000
URL: http://swfsc.noaa.gov/
Business Hours: 8:00-16:30

Metadata Contact

CC ID: 1076337
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Nasby-Lucas, Nicole
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
US
Email Address: nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
Phone: 858-334-2826

Point of Contact

CC ID: 1076338
Date Effective From: 2016-02-09
Date Effective To:
Contact (Person): Nasby-Lucas, Nicole
Address: 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
US
Email Address: nicole.nasby-lucas@noaa.gov
Phone: 858-334-2826

Extents

Extent Group 1

Extent Group 1 / Geographic Area 1

CC ID: 1076341
Description

East Boundary - North, Central, and South American Coastline

Extent Group 1 / Time Frame 1

CC ID: 1076340
Time Frame Type: Range
Start: 1984
End: 2019
Alternate End As Of Info: complete to 1 year prior
Description:

The International Billfish Angler Survey was initiated in 1969 and ended in 2019, completing a 50-year time series index. The only available data ranges from 1984 to 2019.

Access Information

Security Class: Unclassified

Distribution Information

Distribution 1

CC ID: 1088878
Start Date: 2021
End Date: Present
Download URL: https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/FRD_Billfish_summary.html
Distributor: Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) (2016-02-09 - Present)
File Name: International Billfish Angler Survey (Summarized)
Description:

ERDDAP is a data server that gives you a simple, consistent way to download subsets of scientific datasets in common file formats and make graphs and maps. This particular ERDDAP installation contains data related to Environmental Research Division projects and collaborations.

Catalog Details

Catalog Item ID: 65081
GUID: gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:65081
Metadata Record Created By: Liana Heberer
Metadata Record Created: 2021-07-27 20:28+0000
Metadata Record Last Modified By: SysAdmin InPortAdmin
Metadata Record Last Modified: 2022-08-09 17:11+0000
Metadata Record Published: 2021-10-01
Owner Org: SWFSC
Metadata Publication Status: Published Externally
Do Not Publish?: N
Metadata Last Review Date: 2021-10-01
Metadata Review Frequency: 1 Year
Metadata Next Review Date: 2022-10-01