| 22 June 2010
Jesus Lluis of Miami was one of the first anglers to start logging his trips on the data page.
Easy to use tools put you onboard
If you were wondering if you were an important piece of the snook fishery, think no more. Your participation is needed now more than ever. FWRI snook biologist Ron Taylor explains why:
"It's your fishery, so get involved, or put up with scientists taking up the slack using the limited information available...
"Right now we just don't know how many snook were killed this winter. Estimates run from 200,000 to 300,000, but that could mean as few as 75,000 or as many as 500,000, or more.
"Part of the problem, he explains, is much of the information they have received is anecdotal, meaning "word of mouth." That means the information is subject to the usual phenomenon of more, bigger fish each time the story is told. Further, much of the information has been second or third hand. (There's a reason the "telephone game" is a game...)
(Click Image To Enlarge)
Ed Panick Jr was fishing with his buddy Jim Marino, a frequent Snook Watch logger. who told Ed all about the program. Although Ed just fishes once in a while, his data counts
Committed Anglers
"Imagine if you had the Angler Action Program up and running for the past 5 years - that would go so far to settle the debate of how many snook were killed, and where the worst of it was," Taylor said. He hammered the point that committed anglers collecting data within a simple, standardized format could provide the most powerful fishery data ever.
"The key is dedication, and longevity. Every snook angler should record every snook trip, period. If they caught 50 fish, or if they caught zero, the information becomes part of a landslide." His point - a snowflake seems insignificant, until it is rolling down a mountainside with a few billion other snowflakes.
A Daunting Job
Right now, FWRI and FWC have the daunting job of assessing the
damage of an avalanche and planning the best recovery path, but they
can only see about a snowball sized portion of the overall carnage.
They do the best they can with what they have, but we can help them
visualize the whole, true picture.
(Click Image To Enlarge)
Now when you post a photo in the Best Shots contest, if you have logged your trip into snookfoundation.org/data, it will be flagged like Ken Taylor's above.
Just that fast, in a short phone conversation that started about
something unrelated, Ron Taylor re-calibrated our resolve to make this
program realize it's full potential for assisting with sensible fishery
management.
You Are The Missing Link
You are the key to bringing fishery management of age. Whether you fish every day, or once a month, the AAP:Snook Watch requires a few meager seconds of your fishing time, and a few minutes on your computer. In turn, you will be part of an avalanche of knowledge that will surely spread to other fisheries, and most importantly prove that anglers can indeed be part of a sensible approach to fisheries management.
Log in to www.snookfoundation.org/data, and let us help you help yourself to protect your passion for generations to come.
