Catch Data Reported by Telephone Avoid Public Access Bias in a Marine Recreational Survey
Abstract Marine recreational surveys often intercept fishers at public access sites to address identification error and recall bias in data reported by telephone, then calculate catch as the product of the effort reported by telephone and the catch rate recorded at public access sites. However, fishers using private access are left out of the public access frame. In a survey of the recreational catch of blue crabs Callinectes sapidus in Maryland and Virginia, we compared catch calculated using catch rates from public access surveys with catch estimated from catch data reported by telephone to see whether there was evidence of public access bias. We found no identification error by blue crab fishers. However, fishers interviewed by telephone reported that 61–83% of trips were made from private access sites, and relative to catch data reported by telephone the estimates of catch calculated using catch rates were at least 25–63% larger. Catch data reported by telephone followed a delta distribution and avoid...