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