The Department of Environmental Protection is to survey the recreational fishing activities of the public over the next few weeks.The aim is to collect information on how often people fish, what kinds of fish they catch and the amount of fish they catch.The information will allow the department to evaluate the efficacy of current Fisheries regulations designed to prevent overfishing.“We would also like to test the public’s awareness of recent changes to the Fisheries regulations introduced over the past year, and how they feel about them, and how well these new regulations are understood,” said the department’s director Frederick Ming.He said the hope is to establish “a system whereby recreational fishers can regularly report their catches to the department”, enabling regular updates of fish caught.Staff from the Department of Environmental Protection will interview boaters as well as people fishing along the shoreline. The survey will also be conducted via mail.“It is hoped that the survey will open the lines of communication between the Marine Resources Section and the fishing public, and that greater interaction and consultation will enhance management of fisheries resources to assure enjoyable and sustainable fishing into the future,” Environment Minister Walter Roban added.The Minister asked the fishing public for their cooperation over the next few weeks as the information obtained will benefit the whole community as well as the marine environment.