SURVEY METHODOLOGY 



The data collection methodology used for the survey consisted of two connplementary 

 surveys: a telephone survey of households, and an intercept survey of fishermen at fishing 

 sites. Numerous methodological studies indicated that the survey should be structured around 

 this data collection approach. \J These studies showed that a telephone survey could be used 

 to collect reliable data on certain aspects of recreational fishing, such as number of trips 

 mode in the past 2 months, locations fished, and dates on which those trips were made. Data 

 on fishing trips became less reliable beyond a 2-month period. Information on the actual catch 

 such as species, number, and weight and length of fish caught could not be reliably collected 

 by telephone. These data were obtained from fishermen by trained interviewers at fishing 

 sites. Figure I shows the data collected by each method. Data from the two independent 

 sources were combined to produce total effort, participation and catch estimates. 



Using the complemented survey approach, marine recreational finfishing estimates 

 were derived for six 2-month periods during 1986. Results from the 1979 and 1980 surveys 

 indicated that less than 12 percent of the total recreational catch on the Atlantic and Gulf 

 coasts was caught during January an(;J February. However, costs to sample this period of time 

 were very high on the Atlantic coast. Therefore, sampling effort during January and February 

 of 1986 was limited to the Gulf coast States and the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia. 

 The effort for 1986 involved more than 46,000 intercept interviews and over 74,000 telephone 

 interviews on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The following sections briefly summarize the 

 methods and procedures employed in the telephone survey, the intercept survey, and the data 

 processing. 



J_/Brown, Gary L., A review of literature in selected areas relevant to the conduct of marine 

 recreational fisheries surveys (McLean, Va.: HSR, August 1977); Brown, Gary L., Robert L. 

 Hiett and Dhirendra N. Ghosh, Evaluation of the door-to-door personal interview method as a 

 technique for collecting marine recreational fishing statistics (McLean, Va.; HSR, June 1977); 

 Chandler, Kathryn A., A methodological study of on-site intercept surveys of marine 

 recreational fishermen on the West coast (McLean, Va.; HSR, July 1977); Chandler, Kathryn A. 

 and Gary L. Brown, A pretest of an approach to collection of marine recreational fishing data 

 on the East and Gulf coasts (McLean, Va.; HSR, January 1978). Hiett, Robert L. and Dhirendra 

 N. Ghosh, Recommended approach to the collection of marine recreational finfishing and 

 shellfishinq data on the Pacific coost (McLean, Va.; HSR, August 1977); Hiett, Robert L. and 

 Jay W. Worrall, Marine recreational fishermen's ability to estimate catch and to recall catch 

 and effort over time (McLean, Va.; HSR, July 1977); Metze, Brenda C, Evaluation of the 

 telephone interview method as a technique for collecting marine recreational fishing data 

 (McLean, Va.; HSR, July 1977). 



