Evaluation of Methods to Estimate Salmon Harvest Using Angler Harvest Permits Available on a Smartphone Application

Abstract

AbstractChinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha harvest in Oregon is currently estimated using voluntary returns of angler harvest permits. However, estimates are potentially biased due to nonresponse. The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of a new method for estimating harvest in which anglers were given the option to record harvest on a smartphone application in addition to traditional paper harvest permits. Estimates were evaluated via simulation using eight basins along the mid‐ and north coast of Oregon as a theoretical case study. Simulated harvest was estimated using data from supplemental on‐site surveys in conjunction with hypothetical harvest data recorded on smartphones. Confidence intervals varied from 1.2% to 24.7% of actual harvest at the aggregate scale and from 2.6% to 104.1% at the individual‐fishery scale when smartphone recording rates were consistent among fisheries. Precision increased as the percentage of anglers recording harvest on a smartphone increased. Based on the simulation results, it is expected that harvest estimates relying on smartphones would have a precision up to 3.0 times greater than that of traditional creel survey estimates. Although the methods described in this study will likely need further evaluation when implemented in practice, they have the potential to provide cost‐effective harvest estimates compared with those of the techniques that are currently being applied.Received March 25, 2016; accepted July 30, 2016 Published online December 20, 2016