ITEM-BY-ITEM INSTRUCTIONS

1997 Pacific Coast Finfish Intercept Form

The Finfish intercept form is to be used when a finfish angler is intercepted at the fishing site. The screening questionnaire determines if he/she is an eligible fisherman. A form should be started for every eligible finfish angler that the interviewer approaches for an interview. An eligible finfish angler is one who has finished finfishing in his/her mode for the day or in rare cases, anglers who are still fishing in modes where it is difficult to get complete trip interviews (Beach/bank mode only). The Fishing Trip must have been in salt water. All finfish anglers whether they have or have not caught anything are potentially eligible. Eligibility is determined through the Screening Questionnaire provided to you with your clipboard materials. In most cases only finfish are to be entered on this form. Should it be used for crustaceans and/or bivalves, you will receive specific instructions to that effect. At this time we are not recording anything but finfish.

Record Type the basic information you ask the angler is the Type 1 record. The complete Type 1 record is comprised of questions 1-32. Type 2 records are the unavailable catch. Type 3, the available catch.

Item 1 Assignment Number Enter your assignment Number in this field. Normally you have one assignment for the day. You will be given the assignment by your supervisor as to the site and mode you are to sample. If no anglers are present you can go to the next adjacent site with that same mode to sample. That would still be under the one assignment. In some locals and time of year based on effort availability you may have more than one assignment for the day. If you do, be sure and switch assignment numbers when you move to the second or third assignment for that day. The first assignment you go to for the day is assignment number 1, then 2, etc.

Item 2 Interviewer Code Enter your personal 3-digit interviewer ID code in this field.

Item 3 Yr/Mo/Day Enter the date the interview is taking place. The year has been precoded for you.

Item 4 Interview Number You should consecutively number the interviews conducted during each specific interview assignment for the day, even if you sample in different modes on the assignment. The first interview conducted should be 01, etc. At the end of each assignment the total number of interviews that you have conducted should be the same as the last interview number you used. Remember to start re-numbering interviews from 01 for any new assignment you switch to for that day.

Item 5 Time of Interview Military time is to be used to designate the hour. For instance, 4:30 P.M. should be coded as 1630. Enter the time you commenced conducting the interview.

Item 6 State Enter the two-digit state code for the state in which the interview is taking place.

Item 7 County Enter the three digit county code from your "state and county code list" for the county in which the interview is taking place.

Item 8 Site Enter the four digit site code for the site at which you are conducting the interview.

Item 9 Status This field is completed at the end of the interview. It designates the status of the complete interview as to its completeness for sorting purposes.

Status codes:

1 - Interview complete

2 - Non-key item missing

3 - Refused to be interviewed

4 - Language barrier prevents interview

5 - Refused key item

Item 10 Mode Enter the appropriate fishing mode code for the angler's trip. The eight fishing mode code options are listed on your questionnaire sheet. The asterisk (*) preceding this question on your coding sheet indicates it is a KEY question. If key questions are not answered, we cannot use the questionnaire because data will be missing that prevents it from being expanded in the statistical computations.

Item 11 Water Fished Enter the proper code from the questionnaire as to the type of water (ocean, bay, etc.) where the fishing in the above mode took place. Code the location for the majority of the fishing effort.

Item 12 Distance If the fishing was in any type of boat mode in the open ocean, ask the angler whether he/she fished 3 miles or less from shore or more than 3 miles from shore. Code the response on the code sheet "1" for within 3 miles and "2" for more than 3 miles. If the mode is either of the shore modes (SH) -- man made structures or beach/bank --, code this question an "8" automatically without asking the angler (since we know it is not applicable).

Item 13 Washington Catch-Record Area This field is reserved for the Washington Catch Record Area number which they use to specify various management areas. In California or Oregon it is not used and should be coded "88".

Item 14 Target Species Record the species the fisherman says he/she was attempting to catch (up to two). Code the species with a single "0" if there was only one target or no target species. If you are unsure of what species code to enter from the name the angler has given you, write what he told you on the coding sheet in the space provided above the species code boxes.

Item 15 Gear You should complete this item with the gear type used by the fisherman. If the fisherman used more than one type of gear, the interviewer should code the gear that was used, or was in the water, the greatest amount of time.

Item 16 Wet Gear Hours Record the amount of time the angler actually spent fishing with his/her gear in the water in their current mode. Round off to the nearest half-hour (Example: Fishing 1 hour and 30 minutes would be 1 1/2 hours and would be coded "01.5" on the coding sheet).

Item 17 Additional Beach/Bank Hours This question is coded "888" for all anglers except for beach/bank anglers for which you are conducting an incomplete trip interview. For incomplete trip interviews, record the hours the angler still intends to fish to the nearest half-hour. (Two hours would be coded "02.0", while 2 1/2 hours would be coded "02.5", etc.) Incomplete trip interviews are only permitted for beach/bank anglers where, because of multiple access areas to the fishing site, you are having trouble intercepting anglers at the completion of their trip before they leave the site. The following rules apply for incomplete beach/bank interviews: 1) Do not conduct more than 50% of your interviews as incomplete trips. 2) The angler must have completed at least half of his anticipated fishing time before you can do an incomplete trip interview.

Item 18 Days fishing past 12 Months Not counting today, enter the number of days the angler says he went salt-water sport-fin-fishing during the last 12 months. The maximum number would be 364 if the angler fished every day (code "don't know" as "998" and "refused to say" as "999").

Item 19 Days fishing past 2 Months Not counting today, enter the number of days the angler says he/she went salt-water sport-fin-fishing during the past 2 months. The maximum number would be 60-61 days depending on the months (Feb. excepted) (code "don't know" as "98" and "refused to say" as "99").

Item 20 Residence State Enter the State code of the Angler's residence. A separate list is provided for "foreign country".

Item 21 Residence County Enter the county code of the Angler's residence. If the fisherman does not know their county, the interviewer is to ask for the town or city and write it on the coding sheet so that the editor can look it up (for "foreign country" code "998").

Item 22 Residence ZIP Code Ask the angler his/her ZIP Code and enter it in the spaces provided. The following codes should be used if appropriate: (Foreign Country = 99997, Unknown = 99998, Refused = 99999).

Item 23 Residence Type Code "1" if the angler lives in a private residence (house, apartment, condo, etc.). If the angler lives in an institutional housing unit (dorm, barracks, etc.) or is homless, etc. then code "2", then code item #24 as "8" and go to item #25.

Item 24 Telephone This question is to determine what percentage of fishermen have home telephones. It gives an indication of the percentage of marine anglers who could not be contacted by the telephone survey (Yes=1, No=2, Refused=9).

Item 25 Gender Code the angler's gender (Male=1, Female=2, Unknown=8).

Item 26 Name and Phone Number Please enter the angler's name and phone number including area code. This is used in accordance with the contract if we need to verify some of your interviews. There will be some refusals here. However, if you explain the reason as per the questionnaire, past experience has shown the refusal rate is minimal (Name and Phone Given=1, Name and Phone Not Given=9, No Phone=8).

Item 27a Unavailable Catch (Type 2 Record) This question and portion of the coding form is where you record any fish the angler caught that are unavailable to look at. These are what are termed "Type 2" records for the interview. Write the species of fish on the line provided and fill in the 10 digit species code. Be sure to enter a disposition code and the number of fish (key items) with that disposition code for each Type 2 record line [Example: If two or more of the same Type 2 species have different disposition codes, you will need an additional line for each disposition code (and "number of fish with that disposition" as appropriate).

There is space for recording up to five different species and/or dispositions of the same or multiple species. If you need more space you will need to use a second interview coding sheet. (NOTE: If you do this, the second sheet must have Q.'s 1-9 filled out on the front so that it is positively linked to the first sheet that contains the bulk of the interview.)

Since unavailable catch cannot be inspected by the interviewer, it is recognized that the species and numbers reported may not be exact. Each interviewer should strive, however, to obtain species information. It is appropriate to show pictures in the field guide, use available catch as examples and probe the angler for identification skills. If necessary, one of the higher taxonomic level "species" codes may be used.

Item 27b Available Catch? Code whether the angler caught fish that you will be able to look at. This item is meant to cover any fish available for identification, weighing and measuring. ).

An answer of "0" indicates the angler has NO Available Catch - no fish for the interviewer to look at (code items #28 and #29 "88" and go to item #30).

An answer of "1" indicates the angler has Available Catch, and has caught them all themself (code item #28 as "01", item #29 as "88" and go to item #30).

An answer of "2" indicates the angler's Available Catch is part of a group catch, but he can separate the fish that he caught from the rest of the group's catch (code item #28 as "01", item #29 as "88" and go to item #30).

An answer of "3" indicates the angler's Available Catch is part of a group catch and has been reported on someone else's form (code item #28 as "88" and go to #29).

An answer of "4" indicates the angler has Available Catch. However, they are part of a group and cannot separate the fish they caught from the rest of the group's catch. All of the group's Available Catch is listed on this angler's form.

Item 27b Available Catch (Type 3 Record) This question and the back sheet of the coding form is where you record all the angler's catch that is available for you to identify, weigh and/or measure. (NOTE: Fish are to be measured in "fork length".) There are twenty-five spaces for you to enter Type 3 records. Each Type 3 record represents an individual fish, its length, and/or weight. See the sample form attached for examples of coding.

No single species is to have more than ten lengths and weights taken. (Example: If the angler caught 100 surf smelt, 20 surf perch and 15 jacksmelt, you would take a representative sample of ten fish from each species catch for weighing and measuring.) It is emphasized here that the ten fish selected of each species should be a representative sample of the total catch for that species. (Example: A catch of redtail surfperch with 3 big ones and 30 small ones should have a sample taken for measuring/weighing of 1 big one and 9 small ones so as to get a representative sample of the fish the angler caught.) In the surfperch example here, you would have ten lines for the ten lengths and weights, and the species code would be the same for each of the ten lines. (However, The "Number of fish" field for each line would still be 33, indicating these are only "ten" lengths and weights taken out of the angler's "total" catch of 33 redtail surfperch.)

Item 28 Number of Anglers Contributing to Catch Record the number of anglers in the angler's group who contributed to the catch. Only include the number of anglers that actually contributed to the bag of fish. Do not include any anglers in their group who did not catch anything, as this will distort the average catch per angler.

Item 29 Catch On Other Form: If the fisherman's identifiable catch has already been entered on someone else's form, then the interview number of the form containing this angler's group catch would be entered here. If you have an interview number entered here, there will naturally be no type 3 records, and vice versa.

Item 30 Boats: Number of people fishing on the boat. This question is used only for boat modes. For Beach/Bank and Man-Made structures, code this question "88" for "not applicable". For charter boats, the sampler should determine this number by counting, if you are riding the boat, or by asking the skipper, deckhand, or charter office if you are sampling at the dock. For Private/Rental boats, you should ask the angler the question above to determine how many people were fishing on the boat. Anyone just riding to observe should not be counted.

Item 31 Boats: First Person Interviewed? When you interview more than one boat angler from a boat with more than one person on it, you need enter the interview number of the first person you interviewed from that same boat (party/charter or Private/Rental). This provides a tracking of the total number interviewed from the same boat for a statistical analysis of "cluster sampling".

Item 32 Eligible Anglers Not Interviewed You need to enter the number of all the eligible anglers you counted that left during your sampling assignment that you did not interview. (Note: Remember the definition of eligible anglers - Finfish anglers that have completed their fishing trip for the day in the mode in which you are assigned). These are anglers that pass by while you are interviewing other anglers, or anglers you let pass by at high effort sites where you are sampling every nth angler. Do not count anglers still fishing when you finish your assignment for the day. This number is only entered on the last interview for the day. A "--" should be placed in this field for all anglers prior to the last angler. This should include the tally for the assigned site and any alternate sites.