Comparison of three survey methods applied to the recreational rock lobster fishery of Western Australia.

A mail survey of recreational rock lobster licence holders has been conducted annually since 1986. The results from this survey have been used in the management of the recreational rock lobster fishery in Western Australia. Mail surveys are susceptible to non-response and recall bias. The key to determining useful estimates of fishing catch and effort is to minimise both biases. Telephone recall surveys, with high response rates, effectively eliminate nonresponse bias. However, they still suffer from recall bias when the recall period is greater than two months. Telephone diary surveys are free of non-response bias and recall bias and provide the most accurate estimates of effort and catch. In the 2001/02 season three independent surveys were conducted to estimate the recreational catch and fishing effort of the 37,000 fishers licensed to fish for rock lobsters