Identification of Potential Survey Under-Coverage Biases Through Characterization of a Permit-Based Recreational Fishery

The goal of this pilot study was to characterize Southeast U.S. HMS recreational fisheries and identify potential under-coverage biases associated with estimating catch and effort through a general survey.  This project was seen as a first step towards developing specialized data collection programs for rare event and often difficult to sample recreational species.  

 The survey population included all HMS Angling (6,239) category permit holders in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. A total of 4,367 completed interviews were conducted for a 70% completion rate. The potential for bias associated with under-coverage of restricted access site HMS trips is relatively high and should be addressed in the design of future recreational HMS surveys in this region. One out of every four permit holders indicated using a personal dock as their primary access site for HMS fishing. Prevalence of private dock usage varied greatly by state (e.g., Alabama nearly 40% versus Louisiana only 13%). Both species targeted and HMS catch rates varied considerably by primary access site type. Billfish were far more likely to be targeted on trips returning to personal docks than on trips returning to public boat ramps. The opposite was true for trips targeting sharks. Angling category vessels returning to personal docks reported catching fewer sharks but more billfish per trip than vessels returning to public boat ramps. Differences between personal dock trips and marina trips were also found for particular state/species combinations, although these differences were generally smaller and less consistent than comparisons between personal docks and public boat ramps. Considering the differences found between personal dock and public boat ramp HMS trip catch rates, the potential for bias associated with under-coverage of private access HMS trips should be positively correlated with both the relative prevalence of inaccessible personal dock trips, and the proportion of all intercepted HMS trip interviews conducted at public boat ramps.