Data and code for: Six decades of fishery change inferred from fishers’ recollections of their best catches

Data and code for Six decades of fishery change inferred from fishers’ recollections of their best catchesHere we operationalise a “best-catch” approach, using fishers’ recollections of their most productive fishing days to reconstruct population trends. We reveal a 60-year trajectory of bonefish (Albula spp.) abundance and size, using surveys of 136 fishers across South Florida, representing 4,018 years of experience. Encounter rates peaked in the late 1980s–1990s before declining by ~40%, with large individuals largely absent for at least 15 years. Trends closely match independent tournament records, demonstrating that memorable fishing experiences provide robust quantitative indicators for assessing data-poor fisheries.