The Effects of Length of Recall on Reports of Fishing Effort

The current measurement of fishing effort in the U.S. relies on anglers to report fishing effort for the two month period prior to the interview.  Previous research, both with respect to the reporting of fishing effort as well as across other topic areas, suggests that the length of the recall period leads to underreporting of effort, especially for trips that occurred more than two weeks prior to the survey interview.  The results of an experimental study to examine the effects of alternative recall periods will be presented.  The findings clearly indicate that the reporting of fishing effort declines as the time period between the actual trip and the survey interview increases.  Alternative data collection approaches as well as statistical adjustment models are presented to address the effects of the recall bias.