NE Fishing Vessel Annual Cost Survey

Pre-notice Letter
{DATE}
{RESPONDENT NAME}
{RESPONDENT ADDRESS}
Dear {NAME},
Within the next few days you will be receiving a survey from the National Marine Fisheries Service,
Social Science Branch (SSB) in Woods Hole, MA. You have been selected at random to receive this
survey because you own a commercial fishing vessel.
The survey will ask you a number of questions on your annual fishing costs. We are collecting this
information so that NMFS can better understand how changes in fisheries management practices affect
commercial fishing vessel owners. This information in turn will help better shape future management
policies. Thus, it is important that you complete the survey and return it to SSB. The survey is voluntary,
but by completing it and sending it back, you will be helping us understand how fishery management
policies affect your industry.
The survey will also be available online at a secured site. You will be given a user ID and password to
access the online survey. A self-addressed stamped envelope will also be sent in case you choose to
complete the paper survey. We estimate the survey will take about an hour to complete. If you have any
questions or concerns related to this survey, you can contact {SSB CONTACT} at {NUMBER} or {EMail}.
Thank you in advance for your participation.
Sincerely,
{Signed}

Cover Letter
{DATE}
{RESPONDENT NAME}
{RESPONDENT ADDRESS}
Dear {NAME},
Enclosed you will find a survey from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Social Science Branch (SSB)
in Woods Hole, MA. As you may recall, we sent a letter a few days ago letting you know that you have
been selected at random to receive this survey because you own a commercial fishing vessel.
The survey will ask you a number of questions on your annual fishing costs. NMFS will be using this
information to better understand how fisheries management practices affect commercial fishing vessel
owners. This information in turn will help better shape future management policies. Thus, it is important
that you complete the survey and return it to SSB. The survey is voluntary, but by completing it and
sending it back, you will help us understand how fishery management policies affect commercial
fishermen. An online version of the survey is also available for your convenience via {web address}. To
complete the online survey, you will need a user ID and a password which is provided with this letter.
You will have the option to change the password after you log in.
We attached a $5 bill with the survey as a token for your assistance in providing this crucial information
relevant to our analyses. This money is yours to keep whether you decide to complete the survey or not.
We also included a self-addressed stamped envelope in case you decide to complete the paper survey.
Answering the questions will take about an hour. If you have any questions or concerns related to this
survey, you can contact {SSB CONTACT} at {NUMBER} or {E-Mail}.
Thank you in advance for your participation.
Sincerely,
{Signed}
UserID for Online Survey: XXXXXXXXXX
Password: XXXXXXXX

Reminder Cover Letter, Mailing #2
{DATE}
{RESPONDENT NAME}
{RESPONDENT ADDRESS}
Dear {NAME},
You were randomly selected to participate in a survey about your fishing vessel and should have received
a survey in the mail a few weeks ago. A number of your fellow commercial fishermen have already
returned their surveys, but we have not received your survey yet. We hope you can find the time to
complete and return the survey which will provide us with information that we can use to assess how
fishery management policies affect commercial fishermen. This information will help better shape future
management policies. To get an accurate picture of how fishery management policies affect commercial
fishermen, we need as many surveys returned to us as possible.
In case you have misplaced the original, we enclosed a replacement survey. We have also provided the
information for completing the online survey via {web address}. Your user ID and password to access the
online survey is provided below. As before, we included a self-addressed stamped envelope should you
decide to complete the paper survey. We expect answering the questions will take about an hour. If you
have any questions or concerns related to this survey, you can feel free to contact {SSB CONTACT} at
{NUMBER} or {E-Mail}.
Thanks once again and please consider taking the time to complete the enclosed survey.
Sincerely,
{Signed}
UserID for Online Survey: XXXXXXXXXX
Password: XXXXXXXX

Postcard
Dear {NAME},
Our records indicate that you have not yet returned the survey we sent on {DATE}. This is a reminder to
complete and return the survey as soon as possible. Your information will assist us in assessing how
fishery management policies affect you. This information will be very useful in formulating future
management policies. If you have already returned the survey, thanks! If not, we encourage you to fill out
the survey and return it in the envelope we provided or complete the online survey. The online survey can
be accessed via {the web link}. Please contact SSB if you need the user ID and password to access the
online version.
If you have any questions or concerns related to this survey, or if you need a replacement survey, please
feel free to contact {SSB CONTACT} at {NUMBER} or {E-Mail}. You can also download the survey
from the web address provided above.
Thank you once again!