ging was mailed to individuals that had participated 

 in the program. This mailing list consisted of names 

 of billfish anglers, most of whom fished in the east- 

 em Pacific or off the east coast of Australia. 



In the annual reports for 1969, 1970, and 1971, a 

 postcard was enclosed requesting information on 

 the amount of fishing effort and catch. The billfish 

 angler was asked to recall the number of days of 

 billfishing and the number of billfish caught by 

 species. The anglers were requested to give an 

 "honest" answer and told that information on zero 

 catches was important. The technique of postcard 

 survey has been the subject of considerable con- 

 troversy. The California Department of Fish and 

 Game has used this technique and a number of re- 

 searchers have published on the results of this type 

 of survey (Calhoun, 1950, 1951; Clark, 1953; 

 Pelgen, 1955; Abramson, 1963; Jensen, 1964). 



Hayne reported that it is difficult for a fisherman 

 to remember precisely his catch of the previous 

 year. However, with regard to billfishes, the fre- 

 quency at which the average billfish angler partici- 

 pates in the sport is limited and the annual catch of 

 billfish per angler is small. Billfish are "trophy fish" 

 and the author believes that the average billfish an- 

 gler can recall within close limits the number offish 

 caught during the previous year and the number of 

 days he participated in the fishery. 



METHODS 



A sample of the questionnaire used is shown in 

 Figure 1. The form was also used to update the 



us DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 



W*TiON«L OCEANIC «ND »TMOS<>MEniC ADMI.- 

 H*TiaN*i. MKRiME FISHERIES SERVICE 



NOAA-Nat iona I Marine Fisheries Service 



Southwest Fisheries Center 



P.O. Box 271 



La Jol la, Cal ifornia 92037 



Figure I. — Angler survey card. 



mailing list for the Cooperative Marine Game Fish 

 Tagging Program annual report. The postcard form 

 was sent to the billfish anglers in February of 1970, 

 1971, and 1972, and a prompt return of the card was 

 requested. The number of survey cards sent each 



Table 1. — Combined catch and effort data for surveys conducted in 1969, 1970, and 1971. 



291 



