Trip Interview Program (TIP)
Field biologists in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico locations visit docks and fish houses to conduct interviews with commercial fishers. Information collected consists of catch, effort, and biostatistical data.

The Fisheries-Dependent Monitoring (FDM) program has nine field biologists involved in the Trip Interview Program (TIP), a cooperative effort with NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Fisheries Science Center. This is a shore-based sampling program, in which field biologists visit docks and fish houses to conduct interviews with commercial fishers. Information collected consists of catch, effort, and biostatistical data, such as length, weight, and biological samples (otoliths, spines, and soft tissue for mercury testing and DNA analysis). Estimates of the age distribution of fish in the population and how the distribution has changed over time is critical information for the assessment of fish populations. One of the benefits of this program is that it validates trip ticket data (catch and effort).
The following tables are a quarterly (October - December 2017) summary of interviews and measured fish:
(Hard parts = otoliths, spines, and biosamples.)
October
Field Station | Interviews | Fish Measured | Hard Parts |
---|---|---|---|
Apalachicola | 7 | 92 | 90 |
Cedar Key | 4 | 179 | 175 |
Charlotte Harbor | 10 | 244 | 230 |
Indian River | 26 | 632 | 25 |
Jacksonville | 14 | 389 | 0 |
Marathon | 9 | 365 | 92 |
Pensacola | 6 | 213 | 41 |
St. Pete | 20 | 804 | 732 |
Tequesta | 26 | 664 | 38 |
November
Field Station | Interviews | Fish Measured | Hard Parts |
---|---|---|---|
Apalachicola | 5 | 123 | 123 |
Cedar Key | 4 | 247 | 243 |
Charlotte Harbor | 12 | 281 | 258 |
Indian River | 28 | 338 | 223 |
Jacksonville | 24 | 356 | 98 |
Marathon | 23 | 1289 | 133 |
Pensacola | 6 | 287 | 209 |
St. Pete | 26 | 909 | 886 |
Tequesta | 21 | 699 | 77 |
December
Field Station | Interviews | Fish Measured | Hard Parts |
---|---|---|---|
Apalachicola | 9 | 192 | 190 |
Cedar Key | 5 | 171 | 170 |
Charlotte Harbor | 7 | 198 | 188 |
Indian River | 31 | 362 | 151 |
Jacksonville | 20 | 360 | 43 |
Marathon | 24 | 1052 | 97 |
Pensacola | 6 | 185 | 120 |
St. Pete | 28 | 826 | 799 |
Tequesta | 19 | 530 | 0 |

The following table is the 2017 annual summary:
(Hard parts= otoliths, spines, and biosamples)
2017 Totals
Field Station | Interviews | Fish Measured | Hard Parts |
---|---|---|---|
Apalachicola | 95 | 1778 | 1747 |
Cedar Key | 53 | 2781 | 2722 |
Charlotte Harbor | 68 | 1559 | 1412 |
Indian River | 296 | 4399 | 835 |
Jacksonville | 233 | 6937 | 272 |
Marathon | 217 | 9350 | 1040 |
Pensacola | 72 | 3274 | 1705 |
St. Pete | 241 | 8551 | 8220 |
Tequesta | 270 | 7042 | 997 |
Total (All Field Stations) | 1545 | 45671 | 18950 |
Visit Southeast Fisheries Science Center to read more about the TIP program