Splash!
Small Boat Fish Survey Results
Preliminary results from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Spring 2021 Hawai‘i Small Boat Survey are now available. Dr. Hing Ling (Michel) Chan, NOAA Fisheries, research economist and team lead, and Justin Hospital, NOAA Fisheries, supervisory economist, put the informative together in an easy-to-read brochure.
Every fisher with a Hawai‘i commercial marine license (CML) that reported fish caught during 2020 was eligible for the survey put out by the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), Social Ecological and Economic Systems (SEES) Program, Ecosystem Sciences Division.
“We would like to thank fishermen for their participation. We received 350 returns (40-percent response rate). The survey was a long survey with 50 questions, and we appreciate their time to answer the survey and provide the open-ended feedback,” Justin told Splash!
Who responded to the survey? A total of 350 out of 879 surveys were returned with 228 returned by mail and 122 returned online for a response rate of 40 percent. The percentage of response to total CMLs was about equal throughout the islands. The percentage of responding fishermen taking 12 to 24 trips a year was 33 percent, 25 to 49 trips–24 percent, 50 to 99 trips–14 percent, and more than 100 fishing trips a year–7 percent.
Trolling is the most common fishing technique with 95 percent of fishermen using it.
