Using recreational tournament records to construct a 53-year time series of the Florida Keys recreational Bonefish fishery.

Recreational fisheries managers are often challenged by the lack of long-term data to monitor the status and trends of fisheries. Tournament records may provide a useful source of information to identify long-term trends in recreational fisheries. The Bonefish fishery in the Florida Keys (USA) has experienced a long-term and sequential period of decline that has been quantified with multiple data-poor assessments. The fishery also has a long tradition of supporting recreational fishing tournaments that date to the late 1950s. Here, we use recreational fishing tournament records to track the status and trends of the Bonefish fishery. We validated trends in tournament records by comparing time series changepoints with changepoints observed with angler logbooks and Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) surveys. We compiled partial records for nine candidate tournaments. Only one tournament had sustained records that were suitable for analysis (Islamorada All Tackle Bonefish Invitational Bonefish and Permit Championship 1968–2021). Changepoint analysis identified several changepoints in catch rates, fish size, and participation that coincide with changepoints identified through analysis of angler logbooks and LEK surveys from previous research. The congruence of changepoints identified among the three data sources suggests that these tournament records are tracking the status and trends of the Bonefish fishery. Optimistically, we identified a recent two-fold increase in Bonefish catch rates beginning in 2015, potentially suggesting a rebound in the fishery, which reflects anecdotal angler reports. Our results highlight the potential for tournament record data to contribute to status and trend assessments of recreational fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]