The Alaska Sportfishing Survey: A Mail Survey of Participation, Effort, Catch and Harvest

Information on effort, catch and harvest is essential for regulation, management and allocation of Alaska's sport and multiple-use fisheries. In addition, such information is vital for establishing funding priorities; for planning and evaluating enhancement and habitat protection projects; for stock assessment; for gauging the economic and social significance of sport fishing; and for satisfying requests for information from individuals, special interest groups, government agencies, and the recreational industry.

Because of Alaska's vastness, meeting all these information requirements through the implementation of numerous onsite creel surveys throughout the state would be prohibitively expensive, thus the Statewide Harvest Survey (SHS) was first developed and implemented in 1977.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game administers the SHS as an annual mail survey of households where at least one person acquired a sport fishing license.  Respondents are asked general questions about the size of their household and the number of people who procured a license and sport fished.  Respondents are then asked to provide information about their fishing activities – including where they fished, how many people fished, whether or not they utilized a charter/guide and the species they caught and kept.  Maps and definitions are provided to assist the respondent in accurately identifying where they fished and what species they caught.

The primary objective of this project is to estimate participation, catch, and harvest for Alaska sport-caught species statewide, by area, and by fishery.

This presentation will describe how the survey is designed, implemented, analyzed and reported.  In addition, the discussion will cover the various resources available for obtaining annual estimates including our internet query applications.