Subsistence Harvests of Pacific Halibut in Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska, 2006. Special Publication No. 2009-06

摘要

The goal of this project was to monitor the weekly noncommercial halibut fishing activities of a random sample of holders of Subsistence Halibut Registration Certificates (SHARCs) in Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska, in July and August 2006, and to compare estimates of community harvests of halibut based on this inseason monitoring with estimates based on responses to a postal survey. In Kodiak, 303 SHARC holders participated, a sample of 18% of all SHARC holders living in the community. In Sitka, 149 SHARC holders participated, a sample of 8%. Participants recorded information about each halibut fishing trip, including the number of halibut harvested, length of the halibut, gear used, and incidental harvests of rockfish and lingcod, on forms provided by project staff. Project staff visited participants on a regular basis to collect the forms, and also conducted a summary interview at the completion of the field season. In both communities, estimated levels of participation in halibut fishing and estimated harvests were lower based on the inseason monitoring than estimates based on responses to the postal survey. The report discusses potential reasons for these differences, including how representative each sample is of all SHARC holders in the study communities as well as possible recall error. The report concludes that while project findings are not conclusive, it appears that active fishers may be overrepresented in the postal survey responses. However, the inseason project in Kodiak likely failed to include representatives of a small group of very active fishers who account for approximately 20% of the communitys total harvest according to postal survey results. The report recommends that any future inseason monitoring of subsistence fishing include a stratified sampling design based on prior years harvest patterns, and that a short follow-up survey of nonrespondents to the postal survey take place to determine the extent to which this group of SHARC holders participates in halibut fishing.