Aerial-Access Creel Surveys with Incomplete Matching of Aerial and Access Components

• Activity Number: 139
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 5, 2013 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Audrey Béliveau*+ and Carl Schwarz and Richard Lockhart and Steve Arndt
• Companies: Simon Fraser University and Simon Fraser University and Simon Fraser University and Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program
• Keywords: Aerial-Access ; Creel Survey ; Design-Based ; Optimal Allocation ; Two-Phase

Abstract

Creel surveys are used in recreational fishing to estimate angling effort, catch and harvest. One such type of survey is the aerial-access creel survey, which relies on two components: 1. A ground component in which fishing parties returning from their trips are interviewed at some access-points of the fishery; 2. An aerial component in which the number of fishing parties is counted. The aerial survey is commonly done at a peak of activity rather than at a random time of the day. A common practice is to sample less aerial survey days than ground survey days. This is thought by practitioners to reduce the cost of the survey, but there is a lack of sound statistical methodology for this case. In this paper, we propose various estimation methods to handle this situation and evaluate their asymptotic properties from a design-based perspective. Also, we propose formulas for the optimal allocation of the effort between the ground and the aerial portion of the survey. A simulation study investigates the performance of the estimators. Finally, we apply our methods to data from the annual Kootenay Lake survey (Canada) and propose an optimal sampling strategy for future years.