Survey Design & Analysis
Improved data collection and ANALYSIS
Key issues: Management decisions are based on data that must be comprehensive, detailed, and accurate. Ensuring surveys and subsequent analysis meet these needs is the principal task of the Design and AnalysisWork Group. It is working to ensure we have as clear a picture as possible of what species we’re catching, how many we’re catching, where we’re catching them, and when we're catching them.
Design and Analysis Work Group – Implementation milestones:
● = Evaluation Phase 
= Innovation Phase 
= Activation Phase
- Contracted a team of independent statistical consultants to support MRIP activities. The consultants, who come from academia and private firms, add an outside perspective and are providing the expertise to effectively develop and implement research projects. Timeframe: Completed summer 2008.
- Developed comprehensive documentation of current sampling and estimation procedures for existing recreational fishing surveys. Revised estimation procedures for the MRFSS to better match current sampling designs. The resulting catch estimates are being compared to past estimates. Timeframe: New estimation procedures will be implemented in 2009.
- As part of the license survey project, developed an estimation program that integrates independent telephone surveys of fishing effort in a dual-frame approach. Components of the dual-frame design include surveying licensed saltwater anglers (which improves the efficiency of data collection) and random surveying of coastal households, which addresses license exemptions. Timeframe: The program was implemented in the Gulf of Mexico in 2007 and in North Carolina in 2008.
- As part of the license survey project, designed a dual-frame mail survey that will be tested as an alternative to telephone surveys of recreational fishing effort. Mail surveys could potentially provide better coverage than telephone surveys because they are not complicated by such issues as cell phone use. Timeframe: Dual frame mail survey expected to be implemented in 2009.
- Supported efforts of California Department of Fish and Game to develop and implement a panel study of recreational anglers that will test for differences in catch rates and angler behavior between private-access and public-access fishing trips. Timeframe: Panel study was implemented in 2008 and will continue through 2009.
- Conducting an analysis that compares angler reports of discarded catch to direct observations of discarded catch by trained observers. This analysis will help assess the effectiveness and accuracy of the methods currently used to collect recreational fishing discard data. Timeframe: Discard analysis will be completed in early 2009.
Design and Analysis Work Group – Projects under development:
- Expand sampling and estimation analysis to additional regions.
- Regional control of telephone surveys in Hawaii.
- Pilot study to test new access-point intercept survey sampling design.
- Further development of effort surveys that utilize angler lists as sample frames.
- Implement pilot studies to assess potential biases associated with undercoverage of angler populations in onsite angler surveys.
- Implement pilot studies to test new methodologies for collecting discard data.