Publication Abstract

Reliability of Reported Salmon Catch Data

E.C.E .Potter

In most countries, rod and net fisheries for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) are licensed, and there is usually a legal requirement for licensees to report their catches to the regulatory authority. Catch statistics are thus probably the most comprehensive data sets available for salmon stocks, both temporally and spatially, having been collected for fisheries on most rivers for more than 30 years and in some cases for more than a century. However, catch statistics are also notoriously unreliable, there being a wide range of reasons why anglers and commercial fishers may under- or, occasionally, over-declare their catch, and this inevitably affects the value of the data for further analysis. This paper considers the reasons for non-reporting of catches, methods for estimating non-reporting rates, available information on the levels and trends in non-reporting, and the implications for using catch data in providing management advice.

Reference:

E.C.E .Potter (2002) Reliability of reported catch data. pp 2-14. In: R Shelton (Ed.) The Interpretation of rod and net catch data. Atlantic Salmon Trust, Moulin. 103pp.