Unless you live in a cave, you’ve probably heard of the Marine Recreational Information Program( MRIP ), which tracks the number of fish that are being caught by government agencies. You’ve likely heard that MRIP is largely to blame for the season’s apparent countless red snapper fiasco. You’ve probably heard fisheries managers repeatedly state that they must use MRIP numbers despite their flaws because they are the” best available science.” And you’ve probably heard time and time again that MRIP’s figures are complete nonsense, and as a result, we salt anglers frequently get the shaft. All of that may be correct, but up until this point, it has been difficult or impossible to change because it is incredibly difficult to demonstrate how many people are actually catching as many bass. We can cry until we are convinced that their numbers are absurd, but we won’t be taken seriously unless we have concrete proof. Well, we now have concrete proof. Check out the table below.
The club maps from left to right may show a little change. Um, just a little?
This is information from an Ocean City, Maryland, investigation. I am aware that is a long way from Texas, but they are compelled to use MRIP figures there as well, so please bear with me. With the variety shown at left on this character, MIP was estimating that a large number of Maryland anglers were catching black ocean bass( much like they estimate large numbers to catch red snapper in the Gulf ). However, Maryland only has one inlet that leads to the Atlantic Ocean, so someone came up with the idea to attach a video camera there and get an accurate count of how many fishing boats entered and exited. The bar character is located to the right. There’s a small distinction, as you might see; in truth, MRIP estimated that five times as many anglers were going fishing as unquestionable video evidence indicated.
This explains why the red fish year in the Gulf is always so messed up. This explains why the Mid-Atlantic sea bass time is therefore dysfunctional. You, I, and every other saltwater fish in America are all immediately impacted by this. You ought to be hopping hungry. We now have evidence.
