From the Chairman’s Desk
There’s growing anticipation about what the new system of surveys will look like. While we’re right to focus on these improvements, it’s important we don’t forget the fundamental underpinnings of survey design. One of the oft-overlooked deficiencies pointed out in the National Research Council review centered on the public lacking even a basic understanding of how angler data are collected and used to generate estimates that are used for stock assessments and setting management measures.
Public confidence in MRIP depends upon raising this base level of knowledge because many of the survey improvements will be grounded in basic survey methods. Think about it. Our challenges go far beyond just increasing sample sizes. Our new program must address the potential biases associated with not interviewing anglers who fish from private access points or at night. We must identify information bottlenecks and data requirements that would allow for more timely estimates. Grasping the importance of these and other improvements rests on knowing the difference between a survey and a census, the role of phone interviews and in-person intercepts, sampling frequencies, and so on.
As you’ll read below, we recently hosted a constituent workshop aimed at addressing these and other basics of survey and estimation methodology. Our favorable post-workshop evaluations reinforced the NRC’s observation that this is both an area of need and topic of interest among constituents. So even as we look forward to future improvements, let’s remember that a key ingredient in our success is ensuring more people understand these sampling fundamentals.
John Boreman
Chair, Executive Steering Committee