Justification for Change

JUSTIFICATION FOR CHANGE
MARINE RECREATIONAL FISHERY STATISTICS SURVEY
OMB CONTROL NO. 0648-0052

This request is to provide an updated version of the mail supplemental economic survey that has
been previously approved and to request a corresponding online version.
Current efforts to collect economic data from marine recreational anglers across the U.S. rely on
complementary add-on components to the Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Survey (OMB
Control No. 0648-0052). The overall objectives of the economic data collection are to obtain
demographic, social, and economic data on marine recreational anglers that can be used to
estimate models of the economic value of marine recreational fishing and the economic impacts
associated with marine recreational fishing on coastal communities.
Our current plan is that the specific questions on the economic survey would vary from year to
year according to the current needs of fisheries managers. Generally, the types of questions to be
asked include economic questions related to the marine fishing activities of the angler (such as
questions about the angler’s most recent fishing trip), expenditures on fishing related goods and
services, angler preferences for different types of fishing trips, and demographic questions about
the angler. In this current version of the mail survey, the focus is on the angler’s most recent trip
and the angler’s expenditures related to marine recreational fishing. In comparison to the mail
survey provided initially, Section B in this updated version includes questions on twelve month
expenditures for fishing tackle, fishing-related equipment, boats, vehicles, and second homes
instead of questions that ask about angler preferences over different types of fishing trips.
Section A in both surveys ask about recent fishing activities and Section C in both surveys
focuses on demographic questions or general questions about fishing. The current version is 12
pages, compared to 16 pages in the example version.
We would also like to implement an online form as an alternative to the mail form. Providing a
combination of mail and an online option will not impact the estimated reporting burden.
However, we believe the online form will increase response rates, and result in a more timely
response (as the online version eliminates the time in transit in the mail for both sending and
returning the survey). We also believe that the number of errors in the final data will be reduced
using an online form and results will be available faster. This is because data entry will occur
automatically when the respondent takes the online survey, rather than later transcribed from
written responses on the paper form. We do not expect the burden hours to change with the
addition of an online option.