The Evolution of a Survey Design: Exploring Alternative Methods to Estimate Marine Recreational Fishing Effort

Since 1981, marine recreational fishing effort data for the U.S. Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico have been collected through the Coastal Household Telephone Survey (CHTS), a landline random-digit dial (RDD) telephone survey.  As with many National RDD surveys, the CHTS has experienced declining rates of coverage and response.  In addition, RDD is inefficient for sampling saltwater anglers, a relatively rare population.  To address the growing potential for non-sampling error in the CHTS, NOAA Fisheries, through the Marine Recreational Information Program, initiated a series of pilot studies to develop and test improved designs for monitoring marine recreational fishing effort.  Pilot studies have explored alternative sample frames and data collection modes, as well as the use of prepaid cash incentives and different versions of survey instruments.  This testing has culminated in the design of the MRIP Fishing Effort Survey (FES) a self-administered, household mail survey that samples from a postal address frame.  We describe the development of the FES design and discuss the impacts of design changes on timeliness, efficiency, non-sampling errors and survey estimates.