iSnapper for the Private Sector

This project seeks to continue the development and implementation of iSnapper, an electronic monitoring and reporting smart device application designed for private and for-hire recreational anglers to log catch and effort data in real-time.

Data collected by the iSnapper app will supplement recreational data collection with the goal of improving the timeliness and robustness of catch data during final validation and calibration phases for the recreational Red Snapper fishery. The lack of timely and robust data from recreational anglers (e.g., private anglers and for-hire charters) creates issues and controversy in the decision making process as managers seek to optimize fisheries harvest.

Several programs have clearly made significant improvements to the recreational data reporting process, but there is still a need for rapid in-season and near real-time data collection with the potential adoption of new management strategies.

This project will build upon the last several years of successful implementation of this data collection platform into the recreational sector by providing the final validation/calibration comparisons to creel surveys needed for full implementation, and will enlist iSnapper users including private anglers and charter boat captains fishing for Red Snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

We will also continue the partnership and coordination with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department creel survey program, which allows for high-level validation of electronically collected data through the iSnapper app that represents an integral part of data implementation.