The Australian Nartional Recreational Fishing Survey 2000-1

IIFET 2000 Proceedings

The Australian National Recreational Fishing
Survey: 2000-01
David Campbell, Laurie West, Jeremy Lyle, David McGlennon, Anne Coleman, Gary Henry, and Dennis Reidi

Abstract: The survey, commencing in May 2000, is the first broad based national recreational fishing survey of its kind in
Australia. While primarily designed to provide biologic and fisher participant data, it provides a platform for the collection of
data applicable to economic policy questions.
The survey methodology is based on a nation wide random selection of households for which base data is collected. Those in
the household indicating their likely participation in fishing over the coming twelve months are invited to join the
recreational fishing survey. These participating in the longitudinal survey are interviewed over the twelve months of the
survey by telephone using the Kewagama Research respondent facilitation diary methodology. The offsite survey is
supported with on-site creel surveys to verify participant responses throughout the duration of the survey.
Because the primary focus of the survey is the collection of biological and fishing data, it is not always possible to link
economic data to a particular fishing activity, species or fishing site. The economic data is identified according to whether it
is ‘at home’ or ‘away from home’ expenditure, the economic zone in which the expenditure has occurred and the proportion
of expenditure attributable to recreational fishing activity. The aim in limiting the economic data in this manner is to ensure
the provision of robustness data over the full range of the national survey. The economic and behavioural data to be provided
by the survey will be constructive input to important to policy issues concerning the assessment and the use of fish, marine,
coastal and inland water resources.
David Campbell: DCafe, dcampbell.fish@bigpond.com; Laurie West: Kewagama Research, Kewagama@dynamite.com.au;
Jeremy Lyle, Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, University of Tasmania, Jeremy.Lyle@itas.edu.au; David
McGlennon (then South Australian Fisheries), the.mcglennons@yahoo.com; Anne.Coleman@dpif.nt.gov.au; Gary Henry,
New South Wales Fisheries, henryg@fisheries.nsw.gov.au; Dennis Reid, New South Wales Fisheries,
reidd@fisheries.nsw.gov.au.
Introduction
Australian fish resources support a range of commercial
and recreational fishing activities of varying economic
and social value. Commonwealth, State and Territory
governments have a responsibility to manage these
resources for the long-term prosperity and wellbeing of
the community. While scientific, catch, value and fishery
status data exists for commercial fisheries (eg. ABARE
1999, ABARE 2000, BRS 2000), there is no equivalent
and ongoing broad based national data set for recreational
fisheries. A one of exception was the study by in by PA
Management Consultants (1983) that provided national
estimates recreational fishing participation rates, fisher
demographic information and economic impact
assessment. However, there were questions in regard to
the sample data not being representative to the national
population, while the economic impact assessment
included non-fishing elementsii.
A step to addressing the shortfall in recreational fisheries
information was taken in 1992 with the establishment of
the Australian National Recreational Fishing Working
Group (NRFWG) by the Australian, New Zealand
Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministerial Council. The

Working Group, which was made up of members from a
range of sectoral interests, tabled two reports on issues
and future directions on recreational fishing before the
Ministerial Council later that same year (National
Recreational Fishing Working Group 1992 a, 1992b). The
reports were distributed to the wider public for comment.
The public comments were revued and amalgamated by
the National Recreational Fishing Steering Committee
(National Recreational Fishing Steering Committee
1993), including the inclusion of the results of an
unstructured survey (Lubulwa and Parameswaran 1993).
This led to the establishment of a national policy
statement setting out the goals and principles for a
national recreational fishing policy (National Recreational
Fishing Working Group1994).
Three principles in the policy document important to the
national survey are:
x Recreational fishing should be managed as
part of the total fisheries resource to ensure
quality fishing, and to maintain fish stocks
and their habitats for present and future
generations.

IIFET 2000 Proceedings

x

x

Steering Committee recommended a national survey with
Kewagama Research, as the principle consultant.

Recreational fishers are entitled to a fair
and reasonable share of Australian fish
resources taking into account long-term
sustainable yields; the rights and
entitlements of others; and the need to
optimise community returns from available
stocks.
Fisheries management decisions should be
based on sound information including fish
biology, fishing activity, catches, and the
economic and social values of recreational
fishing (p3).

This paper provides a review of the methodology being
used in the national survey and the possible policy issues
to which the data might be applied. While biological and
catch behavioural data were given prime importance in
the study design, a wide range of policy relevant
economic data was also included in the study design.
Methodology selection
The methodology accepted for the national survey is
based on the use of telephone interviews, and follows
developments from experience gained by Kewagama
Research following the application of their methodology
in the Northern Territory in 1994-96 (Coleman 1998),
Tasmania in 1996-98 (Lyle 2000) and South Australia in
1998-99 (McGlennon 1999). The response rates in these
three studies indicate the strength of the methodology
with screening survey response rates of 86 per cent, 96
per cent and 95 per cent and respective longitudinal
interview/diary uptake rates of 90 per cent, 97 per cent
and 97 per cent.

Public concern with the poor quality of available data on
recreational fishing has emphasised the need to ensure the
need for robust and reliable data. This was important in
methodology selection, survey design and the training of
staff.
A National Recreational Fisheries Steering Committee
was formed in 1995 to assess the feasibility, direction and
implementation of a national survey. Following
identification of output needs, and consultant advice, the

Table 1: Design and Validation Methods to Ensure Data Quality
x Comparisons with secondary data sets (e.g.
population census information) are made to assess
sample representation (e.g. socio-demographics).
x Behaviour (catch rates, avidity) of non-phone owners
and owners of unlisted numbers are compared with
directory listed respondents through creel surveys.
Non-response bias
x Survey approach results in very high response rates,
thereby minimizing impacts of non-response.
x Non-response follow-up is undertaken to assess
possible behavioural differences.
Recall bias
x Minimized through survey design with frequent
contact with respondents, low respondent burden and
the use of a ‘memory jogger’ diary system.
Prestige bias
x Reporting accuracy is enhanced through strong
rapport between respondent and interviewer, survey
objectives are carefully explained to respondents and
standardized neutral questioning is used.
x Limited validation (zero catches and catch rates) is
achieved through creel surveys (refer to figures)
Other response biases and behavioral 'shifts'
x As for prestige bias
(e.g. where intervention of the study might
x Careful respondent briefing in terms of ‘normal’
cause increased fishing activity)
fishing activity, i.e. no more or less often than would
have occurred in the survey period, plus neutral
reinforcement by the interviewer, especially during
periods of nil activity.
Species identification
x Species show cards are provided to assist
respondents with species identification.
x Identification skills are assessed through creel
surveys.
From Lyle, Coleman and West (2000).
Non-coverage bias

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The underlying design philosophy is focused on
minimising respondent burden and addressing response
biases and other sources of non-sample error through
comprehensive field and office quality control and
validation measures, as shown in table 1. Ensuring
simplicity for the respondents transfers a substantial
responsibility to the interviewer, who, in turn, underwent
careful staff recruitment, and for whom supportive
training and management are vital (Lyle, Coleman and
West 2000).

aggregation for each State/Territory. For initial data
selection this was assumed to be the Australian Bureau of
Statistics’ statistical division, or where the population size
is too small at this level, a combination of statistical
divisions. Estimates at differing levels may also be
obtained for the regional economic zones or fishing
regions, as defined in the survey.
Sampling for the on-site creel surveys is determined by
each State/Territory to maximise the effectiveness of the
data collected. Spatial and temporal stratification is
undertaken within the time allocated to each
State/Territory to ensure the creel data is compatible with
the12 months of survey data.

While the approach used in the national survey is
expensive, it has a number of strengths over alternative
methodologies and has been shown to provide a
representative and extensive data set. Because the
approach allows the collection of all substantive data
using a single methodology, many of the problems with
complimentary surveys such as data compatibility links,
are avoided.

Components
There are six components to the national recreational
fishing survey:
x Screening survey.
o The screening survey is used to make initial
contact to the sample households.
o Household demographic data (age, gender,
household size, labour force status, education,
ethnicity/aboriginality) is collected.
- The demographic data allows an assessment
of how representative the sample is by
comparison with Australian Bureau of
Statistics data, and provides demographic
data for fishers.
o Data is collected on whether anybody in the
household participated in recreational fishing in the
last twelve months, current fishing club
membership, fishing licence holder and boat
ownership data, eg, length and engine, use,
irrespective of participation in recreational fishing.
o Those in the household over five years of age
identified as likely to take part in recreational
fishing in the next 12 months are asked to
participant in the 12 month longitudinal
telephone/‘diary’ survey and are referred to as
‘diarists.

Survey structure
Scope
The primary focus of the survey is to collect nationally
consistent and comparable fishery statistics (fishing
effort, fish catch, catch rate, species composition and size,
participation), demographic information for fishers (age,
gender, labour force participation), economic expenditure
data and attitudinal data. Those resident in continental
Australia over five years of age and likely to participate in
recreational fishing in the twelve months following the
screening survey are included in the survey population.
The geographic distribution includes all fresh and marine
waters abutting or within continental Australian.
Sampling strategy
Sample design is based on a single-stage sampling
procedure with the household as the primary sample unit
and each of the fishers within the household as the
secondary unit. The sampling frame used for the study is
the national ‘white pages’ telephone directory (electronic
version), which is used as a proxy for a national
household listing. A cluster sampling design is used to
select households for the screening survey, as this
provides through a single contact the correct weighting
for single and multiple fisher households, in addition to
multiple fisher data. Those household members identified
as an ‘intending fisher’ are invited to take part in the
second phase 12 month diary survey, including the two
month supplementary survey and follow-up interview.
The set of eligible fishers is selected for the longitudinal
phase of the survey.

x

Telephone/‘diary’ survey.
The telephone/diary survey provides the primary
data source and is the core of the national survey.
While the screening survey is initiated on a
household basis, telephone/diary data and
subsequent finishing interview data are collected
on a on a diarist basis.
o A survey kit is forwarded to each participating
household. This contains a covering letter, a
species identification booklet and a fishing diary
for each intending fisher. As data is collected from
co-operators is by telephone, the diary is a memory
aid.
o Detailed fishing and fishing behavioural data
(fishing region, target species, fishing method,

o

Allocation of the total gross sample of households to the
individual States/Territories is based on the general
principle of obtaining estimates of harvest and effort at
comparable levels for the lowest level of geographical

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fishing effort including time spent and units of
gear, fishing platform) is obtained. Fishing related
expenditure data is collected (expenditure item,
economic zone expenditure occurred in, amount
attributable to fishing) as occurred during a fishing
trip or as a separate event to a fishing trip.
Participants are contacted every three to four weeks
or more often as required, by the same interviewer.

Data links
Two types of events are accounted for in the national
recreational fishing survey, these are ‘fishing behavioural
events’ and ‘expenditure events’. A fishing/behavioural
event is any non-commercial harvesting or attempted
harvesting of aquatic fauna and an expenditure event is
any expenditure that is attributable to a recreational
fishing event.

Supplementary questions.
Additional expenditure information is collected on
a moving one-sixth sample of the households for a
two-month period to provide additional
expenditure coverage for the whole 12 months of
the telephone/diary component.
o This data is collected as supplementary questions
in the telephone/diary survey and will collect data
on all expenditure on food and drink, private
vehicle fuel and oil and expenditure on vehicle
repair and maintenance that occurs a distance of
more than 40 kilometres by road away from home
by road on a fishing related trip.

These different types of events are further split to provide
increased detail and links between data variables. For
example, the estimation of secondary data, such as catch
by species per unit of fishing effort, can be estimated due
to data splits between targeted species and fishing the
fishing method used.

o

x

o

x

Splits between fishing events occur in the diary survey
when there are changes in the:
- fishing region: occur on a geographic basis
and are usually defined according to the
boundaries of a particular catchment;
- fishing sub region, occur according to the
characteristics of the fishing region such as
whether offshore, inshore, eustary, … . ;
- fish species being target; and
- fishing method used.

On-site creel surveys.
Creel surveys are being used to assess the ability of
recreational fishers to identify fish according to
species and to determine the size distribution of
common species (size data is not being collected in
the survey). On-site and diary data are standardised
where possible.
o This data is also used to validate species
recognition and to validate catch rates

o

x
o

x
o

Expenditure events may be collected independently of or
in association with recreational fishing events.
Expenditure is entered as a separate event if there is no
associated fishing event, as might occur with a lunchtime
purchase of a fishing lure, but is included with a fishing
event when it occurs on a trip involving recreational
fishing. In such cases, expenditure data might be entered
on the last event sheet of the day or weekend, or,
depending on the nature of the trip, expenditure might be
pooled over several days and included on the last event
sheet for that period - as long as the period did not go into
a new calendar month, in which case expenditure would
be pooled to the last event sheet for the month.

Finishing interviews at the end of the survey period.
Diary respondents will be asked to provide
attitudinal information and including one-off
expenditure information on items such as boat and
fishing licences and boat insurance.
Other data sources.
To minimise respondent burden and mitigate noncooperation, income data was excluded from the
survey. Australian Bureau of Statistics income data
will be amalgamated with the survey data
according at the level of the Australian Bureau of
Statistics statistical division on the basis of the
demographic and employment data collected in the
screening survey. Additional economic information
on vehicle running costs will be obtained from the
National Motor Association.

Splits in economic events occur:
- according to economic zones, while
analogous to the fishing region, may contain
one or more fishing regions. The economic
zones are made up of an amalgam of
Australian Bureau of Statistics statistical
units;
- when the timing of a fishing trip extends
into the next calendar month; and
- if it is food/drink, fuel/oil, or vehicle repairs
collected as supplementary questions in the
telephone/diary survey. In which case it is
collected on the basis of family expenditure,
rather than diarist expenditure:

Excepting for the creel survey and ‘other data sources’, all
data is collected using telephone interviews. The
screening and telephone/’diary’ survey questionnaires
were pilot tested prior to the survey.

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.

.

according to whether it is 40 kilometres or
less by road away from home (home
expenditure), or
according to whether it is in excess of 40
kilometres by road away from home (away
expenditure).

to fishing. These additional activities could include
visiting relatives, touring, walking, boating, swimming,
socialising, camping and sightseeing. Alternatively, the
trip might involve work related activities in addition to
recreational fishing.
To advocate all economic activity or expenditure on a
recreational trips involving recreational fishing would
result in an overestimate of the economic impact and the
relative importance of recreational fishing relative to
other recreational activities. To overcome this, a
qualifying coefficient or weighting to estimate that
proportion of expenditure attributable to recreational
fishing is obtained.

Direct links do exist between expenditure data and the
items and services purchased, the economic zone it
occurred in, the home area of the recreational fisher and
the fisher’s socio-demographic-income characteristics, In
addition, that proportion of expenditure attributable to
participation in recreational fishing is identified. In
addition, and depending on the nature of the fishing trip
and the economic characteristics of the item on which
expenditure occurred, it might be possible to assume a
causative link between expenditure and recreational
fishing behaviour. For instance, all fishing in the New
South Wales Southern Alps is likely to be trout fishing,
regardless of the sub-region (lake or stream) or fishing
method used (bait or lure). However, it was not possible
to obtain explanative links between different forms of
fishing behaviour and fishing expenditure without placing
an excess burden on respondents and possibly affecting
data quality.

The level of attribution will differ depending on the
characteristics of the activity in which the item or service
is an input. Some items, such as fishing rods and lures,
are 100 per cent attributed to recreational fishing, while
other inputs, such as a boat or dingy, might be used for
recreational fishing in one instance, while being used for
water skiing in another instance. While all these
examples involve capital cost items, expenditure can still
be an input to joint outputs even when expenditure is a
marginal cost item. For instance, accommodation and
fuel costs may be inputs to a trip that involved a round of
golf as well as recreational fishing. In addition, even if
expenditure on an item, such as a fishing rod, is wholly
attributable to recreational fishing, use of that item may,
over time, be used in a number of recreational fishing
events at different times in which the species targeted or
caught may also differ.

Behavioural events can be located according to the fishing
region in which they occurred and aggregated up to larger
aggregations of Australian Bureau of Statistics statistical
units. Economic expenditure can be expanded according
to the economic zone in which they occurred, while
behavioural events and economic expenditure can be
expanded to the State or Territory in which they occurred
and eventually to the national level. The national survey
will provide a national set of comparable recreational
fishing behavioural patterns that may be examined
according to species targeted, species caught, fishing
effort, location, the characteristics of recreational fishing
participants and their fishing behaviour.

With expenditure for items or services that are joint
inputs and not 100 per cent attributable to recreational
fishing, diarists are asked to identify the proportion of
their expenditure that they attribute to recreational
fishing. It is carefully explained to respondents that all
activities by all people associated with the expenditure
are taken into accounted in making this assessment.
Attribution, in this case, is on the basis of the
respondent’s assessment of their own expenditure and the
use made by everybody on that trip of the goods
purchased. It was considered that a behaviourally based
assessment of attribution would provide a more
consistent measure than one based on expected outcomes,
even though expenditure decisions normally occur on the
basis of expected benefits.

The decision was made to not explicitly collect data to
estimate the unit value recreational fishers might place on
fish caught. The reasons for this decision are discussed in
attachment A.
Attribution of expenditure
Recreational fishing as a form of recreation, occurs as a
result of an individual’s desire to experience other places,
other people and other behaviour or deeds. In most
instances it occurs as a tourist activity involving the
consumption of commodity and environmental services
by people who travel to destinations away from their
normal place of accommodation or workiii (Corcoran,
Allcock, Frost and Johnston, 1998). A trip including
recreational fishing might involve an individual or a
group and it might be for the sole purpose of recreational
fishing or for a range of recreational activities in addition

The relative attribution relationship is shown in figure 1,
where ‘Not attributable’ includes expenditure on items
such as golf, ‘0 < attribution < 100%’ is for items that are
linked to or are a an ‘imperfect compliment’ to the
fishing activity, and ‘100% attribution’, while linked are
fully attributable to recreational fishing and are a ‘pure
compliment’ with catching fish.

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Figure1: Relative Relationship of Expenditure Between Linkage and Attribution
Not associated with fishing
Associated to fishing
Not attributable

0 < attribution < 100%

100% attribution

Table 2: Source, Type and Policy Relevance of Economic Data a
Policy
Expenditure Economic
Attribution Regional expenditure Fishing gear
items
characteristics
Home
Away
expenditure expenditure
Screening Fishing gear
owned
Capital
1
X
survey
boats owned capital
<1
X
Primary rods
capital
1
X
X
X
survey
reels
capital
1
X
X
X
other tackle capital
1
X
X
X
bait/burley
variable
1
X
X
X
X
X
ice
variable
d1
publications annual
1
X
X
X
X
X
boat purch’d capital
d1
X
X
bt maint'nce annual
d1
X
bt insurance annual
d1
X
X
bt mooring annual
d1
X
X
bt fuel/oil
variable
d1
X
X
boat hire
variable
d1
X
X
boat charter variable
d1
X
X
trailer
capital
d1
X
X
trl maint'nce annual
d1
X
trl ins/reg
annual
d1
X
X
car hire/ch
variable
d1
car kms
variable
d1
?
?
other travel ?
d1
X
accomdtn
variable
d1
X
X
fees-club
annual
d1
feesvariable
X
competition
X
X
X
fees-licence annual
d1
X
X
X
contributions ?
d1
clothing
capital
X
X
X
X
books/maps capital
d1
X
other access variable
d1
Supplem- food
variable
X
entary
drink
variable
X
questions fuel/oil
variable
X
Finishing’ Car
capital
d1
interviews Licence/s
annual
d1,
Insurance/s annual
d1
NRMA car travel cost variable
d1
ABS
income
annual
a. The actual economic data to be included in the data set and the source of data is still to be finalised.

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Expenditure on capital items during the twelve months of
the survey can be assumed to represent annual
expenditure on capital items. However, this cannot be
used to indicate the actual fishing capital held by fishers;
although resale value of boats owned is collected for all
families in the screening survey. Such partitioning allows
the attribution of expenditure between recreational fishing
and other events. Of itself, it does not allow expenditure
to be partitioned between different fishing events.

The data results from the NRFS might be used to directly
assess current and future or alternative fishery
management options as a primary data for derived data
such as catch effort, regional expenditure and marginal
value estimates.
A number of possible policy issues, expected National
Recreational Fishing Survey data and possible
methological procedures in which such data might be
used is provided in table 3. Policy options may relate to
broad policies issues including the monitoring of fishery
management performance, impact of fish resource use on
national and regional productivity and distributional
outcomes. Alternatively, such data may apply to more
specific resource use policy questions such as stock
protection or enhancement including questions of
improved water quality, protection and enhancement of
breeding and spawning areas, and stocking of local water
ways. Survey data might also be relevant to questions
regarding the provision of ancillary services including
road improvements, the provision of access including boat
ramps, and the provision of accommodation including
camp and caravan parks.

Policy Issues
Two sets of policy questions for which economic data is
being collected, and can be related to the data on fishing
behaviour are:
x How much is spent on fishing items. This provides
information of the size of the industry involved in the
manufacture and supply of those items that are
directly used in recreational fishing.
x Expenditure by recreational fishers that can be
attributed to recreational fishing. This data can be
used to provide an indication of the level of economic
activity in an area that has occurred as a result of
recreational fishing (table 2).

Table 3:

Applicability of Data to Policy Issues
Policy issues
Data provided
Resource allocation
x Hedonic pricing data may be available for some fish species or fishing
sites depending on fisher behaviour.
x Optimal allocation of fish resources
between competing uses
(commercial, recreational,
x Data for economic impact assessment will be provided at the level of the
conservation, indigenous and
defined economic region.
commodity).
o Both these data sets can be used in national and regional
x Allocation of fish habitat between
productivity assessment, while providing information for
competing uses
resource allocation between competing uses.
x National and regional productivity
x Economic impact assessment
Resource access to waterways and fish Access and use data, such as:
resources
x Regional data regarding use of a particular fishing region
x Fishing sub region data providing information on the sort of conditions.
fished in; eg, offshore or from a stream bank.
x Type of fishing carried out.
Participation and distributional effects Home location, fishing location and species data, socio-demographiceconomic data, and expenditure data can all be applied.
Optimal resource use in time
Catch and catch effort data

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The Australian National Recreational Fishing Survey: 2000-01
David Campbell, Laurie West, Jeremy Lyle,
David McGlennon, Anne Coleman, Gary Henry, and Dennis Reid

x

Background
x Unlike that for commercial fishing a data shortfall
exists for recreational fishing
x The 1992 decision by the Australian, New Zealand
Fisheries and Aquaculture Ministerial Council to set
up a working group to examine
x A series of public papers that were distributed for
public comment and input
x Publication of a national policy statement in 1994

Sample design: a single-stage sampling procedure as
the primary sample unit with each fisher in the
household as the secondary unit
o ‘white pages’ telephone directory was used as the
sampling frame

Survey Components
x Screening survey
x Telephone /’diary’ survey
x Supplementary questions
x On-site creel surveys
x Finishing interviews at the end of the survey period
x Other data sources

Outcomes
x Three of the needs identified in the national
policy
o Recreational fishing should be managed
as part of the total fisheries resource to
ensure quality fishing, and to maintain
fish stocks and their habitats for present
and future generations.
o Recreational fishers are entitled to a fair
and reasonable share of Australian fish
resources taking into account long-term
sustainable yields; the rights and
entitlements of others; and the need to
optimise community returns from
available stocks.
o Fisheries management decisions should be
based on sound information including fish
biology, fishing activity, catches, and the
economic and social values of recreational
fishing (p3).
x Performance standard identified in the national
Policy
o A robust and reliable data set.

Events & data links
x Two types of events:
o Fishing/fishing behavioural events
o Economic events
These events may be collected together during a
recreational trip involving recreational fishing or
independently.
x Splits occur in the ‘diary’ survey for fishing events
when there are changes in:
o The fishing region (catchment)
o Fishing sub region (offshore/stream, lake…)
o Fish species targeted &
o Fishing method used
x Splits occur in the economic events for the ‘diary’
survey when:
o There is a change in economic zones
o When the timing of the fishing trip extends into
another calendar month
o For food & drink expenditure, whether it is in the
‘at home’ or is ‘away from home’

Methodology selection
x Kewagama Research were chosen to provide the
methodological support for the national survey
o Use of telephone interviews supported with
‘reminder’ diaries;
o Designed on minimising respondent burden;
o Be shown in previous studies to provide high
(>90%) participation rates over the duration of the
survey.

Aside from timing, there is no direct link between
economic events and fishing behavioural events.
Economic data/expenditure attribution
Recreational fishing occurs on a recreational trip
involving that can involve a number of people and can
involve activities in addition to fishing. Therefore:

x

Survey structure
x Scope: To collect nationally consistent and complete
fishery statistics, fisher demographic information,
expenditure data and attitudinal data fro those over
five years of age within continental Australia.

x

8

Expenditure, such as golf, not associated with
fishing. Non of this expenditure data is collected
Expenditure such as travel, accommodation and
fishing gear, that is associated to varying degrees. All
of this data is collected; but
o Respondents are asked to designate the proportion
attributable to fishing; eg:

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Table 3: Applicability of Data to Policy Issues
Policy issues
Data provided
Resource allocation
x Data for economic impact assessment will be provided at the level of the
defined economic region.
x Optimal allocation of fish resources
between competing uses
o Both these data sets can be used in national and regional
(commercial, recreational,
productivity assessment, while providing information for
conservation, indigenous and
resource allocation between competing uses.
commodity).

x

Allocation of fish habitat between
competing uses

x It is possible that hedonic pricing data may be available for some fish
species or fishing sites depending on fisher behaviour.

x National and regional productivity
x Economic impact assessment
Resource access to waterways and fish
resources

Participation and distributional effects
Optimal resource use in time

Access and use data, such as:
x Regional data regarding use of a particular fishing region
x Fishing sub region data providing information on the sort of conditions.
fished in; eg, offshore or from a stream bank.
x Type of fishing carried out.
Home location, fishing location and species data, socio-demographiceconomic data, and expenditure data can all be applied.
Catch and catch effort data, assuming additional surveys

Table 1: Design and Validation Methods to Ensure Data Quality
x Comparisons with secondary data sets (e.g.
population census information) are made to assess
sample representation (e.g. socio-demographics).
x Behaviour (catch rates, avidity) of non-phone owners
and owners of unlisted numbers are compared with
directory listed respondents through creel surveys.
Non-response bias
x Survey approach results in very high response rates,
thereby minimizing impacts of non-response.
x Non-response follow-up is undertaken to assess
possible behavioural differences.
Recall bias
x Minimized through survey design with frequent
contact with respondents, low respondent burden and
the use of a ‘memory jogger’ diary system.
Prestige bias
x Reporting accuracy is enhanced through strong
rapport between respondent and interviewer, survey
objectives are carefully explained to respondents and
standardized neutral questioning is used.
x Limited validation (zero catches and catch rates) is
achieved through creel surveys (refer to figures)
Other response biases and behavioral 'shifts'
x As for prestige bias
(e.g. where intervention of the study might
x Careful respondent briefing in terms of ‘normal’
cause increased fishing activity)
fishing activity, i.e. no more or less often than would
have occurred in the survey period, plus neutral
reinforcement by the interviewer, especially during
periods of nil activity.
Species identification
x Species show cards are provided to assist
respondents with species identification.
x Identification skills are assessed through creel
surveys.

Non-coverage bias

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IIFET 2000 Proceedings

i

This study is part of a larger project on non-commercial use of fihs resources that includes indigenous use by Aborigines
and Torres Strait Islanders and international tourists. Acknowledgement is given to the input from recreational fishers and the
State, Territory and National fishery jurisdictions who were involved in the respective working groups.
ii
Other national studies that do not have the same broad base include those by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (1992 and
1999), the Bureau of Tourism Research (1999) and the study by PA Consulting (1992). The 1992 ABS
iii
Recognising, that for some, recreational fishing can be carried out within their normal place of accommodation or work.

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