Coastal Household Telephone Survey Scope (2009 – 2010)
Purpose of the Study
The National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Fisheries) is required to conduct a survey of marine recreational fishing. This survey gathers information on participation (number of people who went marine recreational fishing at least once within the calendar year), fishing effort (number of angler trips), and catch (numbers of finfish caught, harvested, and released) by marine recreational anglers.
Catch, effort, and participation statistics are fundamental for assessing the influence of fishing on any stock of fish. The quantities taken, the fishing effort, and the seasonal and geographical distribution of the catch and effort are required for the development of rational management policies and plans. Recreational fisheries data are essential for NOAA Fisheries, the Regional Fishery Management Councils, the Interstate Fisheries Commissions, State conservation agencies, recreational fishing industries, and others involved in the management and productivity of marine fisheries. The allocation of many fishery resources depends on the results of these surveys.
The Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS) is a nationwide program developed in the late 1970's to provide a database of marine recreational fishing activity. The MRFSS consists of two independent, yet complementary surveys; a Coastal Household Telephone Survey (CHTS) to assess fishing effort, and an access-point intercept survey to assess catch per unit effort. Data from the two surveys are combined to estimate total fishing effort, participation, and catch by species.
In recent years, managers, scientists, and the recreational fishing community have raised concerns about the timeliness and accuracy of MRFSS data and estimates. As a result of these concerns, as well as mandates issued by Congress, the MRFSS is being phased out in favor of an improved recreational fishing data collection program. The new Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP) will improve the collection, analysis and distribution of recreational fishing statistics.
To ensure uninterrupted production of recreational fishery statistics, as well as provide a benchmarking period to document improvements, it will be necessary to conduct the MRFSS concurrently with the MRIP. In addition, improved components of the MRFSS may be retained in the MRIP. This statement of work describes requirements for the CHTS.
Generally, the CHTS is limited to households in counties that are located within 25-50 miles of the coastline (coastal counties) because the majority of the recreational fishing trips are taken by persons residing within those counties. The intercept survey provides adjustment factors to account for trips taken by non-coastal anglers, and anglers who live in households without telephones, as well as catch information.
The CHTS will be conducted in the Atlantic, Gulf Coast, and Caribbean sub-regions by one contractor from wave 5 (September/October) 2009 through wave 6 2010. The survey is currently being conducted in the Pacific sub-regions concurrently with state surveys coordinated by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. Overlap with these state-administered surveys in 2009 and 2010 is tentative.
Angler License Directory Telephone Survey Scope (2009 – 2010)
Purpose of the Study
The Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (MRFSS) collects data on marine recreational fishing effort through the CHTS. The CHTS utilizes a random digit dialing approach to contact residents of coastal county households and collect information on fishing behavior. While the CHTS provides nearly complete coverage of the target population (residents of coastal county households) the methodology can be quite inefficient, as a relatively small proportion of the population participates in recreational fishing during any given sampling period. This requires that a large number of households be contacted in order to obtain a sample of fishing households that is sufficient for producing reasonably precise estimates of fishing effort.
A more efficient approach to collecting fishing effort data is to sample from lists of known or likely saltwater anglers. Such lists exist in some states in the form of databases of saltwater fishing license holders. The purpose of this task is to conduct a telephone survey of marine recreational fishing effort utilizing existing databases of saltwater fishing license holders as list-based sampling frames. The Angler License Directory Survey (ALDS) will be conducted in Louisiana and North Carolina during waves 5-6, 2009 and waves 1-6, 2010. The survey may be expanded to other states in 2010, pending implementation of the Federal saltwater angler registry and/or implementation of new state saltwater licensing programs. At a maximum, the ALDS will be expanded to five additional states in 2010.
Interviewers
There are three teams of interviewers for this study located in Washington, Texas, and Ohio.
Data Collection
Data collection shall be conducted during a two-week period at the end of each wave (i.e. the last week of the wave being surveyed and the first week of the next wave). Anglers are asked to recall all recreational, saltwater fishing trips taken in the last 59, 60, 61, or 62 days, depending on the actual number of days in the wave. Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) systems should display allowable trip dates, and interviewers must have a calendar available to help respondents with dates, particularly with weekend dates.
Data collection will begin on October 25, 2009, and conclude on January 8, 2010. The schedule follows:
Sampling Wave (2009) |
Survey Start Date |
Survey End Date |
Sep – Oct, 2009 |
(Wave 5) October 25, 2009 |
November 7, 2009 |
Nov – Dec, 2009 |
(Wave 6) December 26, 2009 |
January 8, 2010 |
Sampling Wave (2010) |
Survey Start Date |
Survey End Date |
Jan – Feb, 2010 |
(Wave 1) February 22, 2010 |
March 7, 2010 |
Mar – Apr, 2010 |
(Wave 2) April 24, 2010 |
May 7, 2010 |
May – Jun, 2008 |
(Wave 3) June 24, 2010 |
July 7, 2010 |
Jul – Aug, 2008 |
(Wave 4) August 25, 2010 |
September 7, 2010 |
Sep – Oct, 2010 |
(Wave 5) October 25, 2010 |
November 7, 2010 |
Nov – Dec, 2010 |
(Wave 6) December 26, 2010 |
January 8, 2011 |