Boat-Based Fishing Surveys in the US Pacific Island Territories: Survey Design, Catch and Effort Estimation, and Sensitivity Analyses

• Activity Number: 54 - Record Linkage, Data Integration, and Improving Survey Measurement
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 8, 2021 : 3:30 PM to 5:20 PM
• Sponsor: Survey Research Methods Section
• Author(s): Hongguang Ma* and Toby Matthews and Felipe Carvalho and Marc Nadon
• Companies: NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and University of Hawaii and NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center / University of Hawaii
• Keywords: Boat-based fishing survey; Catch estimate; Fishing effort estimate; Survey design; Expansion algorithm; Sensitivity analysis

Abstract

This paper presents boat-based fishing surveys from Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. The boat-based fishing survey consists of separate catch and effort surveys, which are conducted at major ports. The surveys are stratified by day type (weekday vs. weekend) and port. The expanded catch is estimated as the product of catch rate (derived from the catch survey) and fishing effort (derived from the effort survey). In addition to strata (combination of day type and port), catch and effort estimates are also separated for different fishing methods and charter statuses. Catch interviews from select sampled ports are used to estimate catch rate for ports that are not sampled. Catch interviews from similar estimation domains are pooled or borrowed for catch rate estimation in domains with less than three catch interviews. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to evaluate the impact of the interview pooling algorithm and selection of representative ports on catch estimates. To better serve fisheries monitoring and management, the survey design and expansion algorithm covered by this paper will be under peer review by the Center of Independent Experts.