Washington and Oregon Saltwater Sportsfishing Surveys, Methodology and Results.

摘要

The Northwest Fisheries Science Center administered surveys to saltwater anglers in Washington and Oregon during 2006 and 2007. These surveys gathered data on the preferences, trips, expenditures, and demographic characteristics of saltwater anglers in the two states. These data are essential to economic models that measure the value of the fishery. In addition, the data collected here can be used to measure the economic impact on regional economies, as well as provide a basis for predicting angler effort. This document describes the survey methods employed and uses these data to characterize the fishery participants. The surveys were administered by mail in 2-month waves to approximately 8,000 anglers in each state. Participants were selected randomly from the population of adult anglers who purchased any license that enabled them to fish in salt water during the license year. We implemented the data collection following the first edition of Dillmans book, Mail and Internet Surveys, and used a modified protocol with up to six total contacts: an initial telephone screening survey, a notice letter for the mail survey, the first mailing of the complete survey package, a reminder postcard, the second mailing of the survey package, and the third and final mailing of the survey package. The surveys collected data in four sections: (1) recent fishing trips, (2) detailed information on the last trip taken, (3) discrete choice experiment questions, and (4) demographic information. Focus groups and one-on-one interviews were used to select the attributes and levels of the discrete choice experiment questions in order to ensure that the fishing trips presented in those questions were contextually realistic and presented the respondents with no excessive cognitive difficulties.