FL Fisheries Independent Monitoring Inshore Stratified-Random Sampling Records

The Fisheries-Independent Monitoring (FIM) program is a long-term program designed to monitor the relative abundance of fishery resources in Florida’s major estuarine, coastal, and reef systems. Data collected by fisheries-independent methods avoid many of the problems that are inherent in fisheries-dependent (FD) data, such as changes in vessel types, fleet size, fishing gear, methods of operation, closed seasons, and size and bag limits. Florida’s Inshore FIM program uses a Stratified-Random-Sampling (SRS) approach in its survey design. The SRS design reduce statistical error in abundance estimates by distributing sampling effort among the available geographic and habitat strata. The FIM program divides each selected survey region into zones based on logistical and hydrological characteristics. The habitat types (i.e., depth, seagrass beds, shore type) available within each zone are identified and assigned as strata. Monthly sampling is then conducted by the FIM program at sites randomly selected from the strata available witin each zone. Sound management is required to preserve the health of Florida's marine environment for our present and future enjoyment. The Fisheries-Independent Monitoring program provides data and analyses of fishery stocks that are needed to determine necessary fisheries management measures and to assess the effectiveness of those measures after they have been enacted.