Shore-Based Creel Survey
2004 – Current
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| Niko Sapolutele - Data Collector (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
In August 2004 the 2002-2003 sampling protocal was modified and improved by having three non-overlapping routes along Tutuila’s South Shore. These routes are entered in the Data System as the Eastern 2004 and Later Route running from Lauli’I to Tula, the Central 2004 and Later Route running from Nu’uuli to Aua and the Western 2004 and 2005 Route running from Amanave to Leone. There are four regularly scheduled and overlapping data collecting shifts that run from 0000-0800, 0600-1400, 1200-2000 and 1800-0200.
The sampling program is stratified by type of day (either weekday or weekend/holidays with Sunday's not included), by day or night survey and by fishing method. A day survey was defined as from 0600 to 1800 while a night survey is from 1800 to 0600. The type of day for a night survey is determined by the day it ends. For example a night survey that begins at 1800 on a Friday evening ends Saturday at 0600 and is considered a weekend night survey. The fishing methods covered by this survey are gleaning, rod and reel fishing, bamboo pole fishing, snorkel spear diving, handline fishing, throw netting, gill netting, sand mining and swimming with no fishing.
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| Auva'a So'onaola - Data Collector (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
Five days each week including Saturday and holidays but not Sunday one of these three routes was randomly selected to be sampled during one of the four randomly selected shifts by picking routes and shifts randomly out of a container. Changing the shift time every day proved to be difficult to manage and too hard on the samplers working different hours every day. From April 2005 to January 2006 the shift time was randomly selected every week instead of every day and the route was still selected randomly every day.
In February 2006 an additional sampling team was available, allowing two sampling shifts to be run each day 12 hours apart. The first shift time was still randomly selected every week and the 2nd shift was always 12 hours after it on the same day. The routes were randomly selected every day for both shifts independently making it possible for one route to be sampled twice during a day.
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| John Le'au - Data Collector (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
In 2006 it was discovered that a lot of fishing activity was occurring at Sliding Rock in the village of Vailoa adjacent to Leone, the Eastern most village of the Western 2004 and Later Route. A new route, the Western 2006 and Later route, was created to add Sliding Rock and Vailoa to the old Western 2004 and Later Route. The old Western 2004 and Later Route was renamed the Western 2004 and 2005 Route.
During each eight hour shift the DMWR staff would make four runs from one end of the route to the other to determine the participation count. These runs were not to exceed one hour and usually lasted from 30 to 45 minutes. All fishing activity seen during these runs was entered on a Shore Based Creel Survey Participation Form (2004-Present).
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| Mathew Grey - Data Collector (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
The header information included the route, sample date, shift times and interviewers names. The detailed data included the run number from 1 to 4, the time and village of the observation, the total number of people in the party, the number of people actually fishing, the gear type, the weather conditions and any comments.
Even if no fishing activity was seen during the run the beginning village name and time visited as well as the ending village name and time visited had to be entered on the form to get an accurate count of zero-participation runs.
The catch was sampled opportunistically or during the time between runs during a shift and the detailed catch information is entered on a Shore Based Creel Survey Interview Form (2004-Present). The header information includes the interview date, route, village, gear type, number of gear, number of people in the party, time of the interview, the number of hours fished until the interview and the names of the interviewers. The detail data includes the species of fish, whether t it is bycatch or not, the number of pieces, the length and the weight.
2002 – 2003
This protocol, expanded the 1990-1996 shore-based creel survey sampling protocol by expanding their one Nu’uuli to Lauli’i route to include the Eastern and Western ends of
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| Rod and Reel Fishing (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
Three participation runs were made eachy week randomly and evenly divided between the Eastern and Western routes. Two participation runs per month were made along the entire South Shore of Tutuila on Saturdays. The schedule, based on randomly selected eight hour shift times that ranged from 500-1300 to 1600-2400, ensured that every hour in the 24 hour day except for the hours from midnight to 0500 was covered. It also ensured that every day of the week except Sunday and all lunar, tidal, weather conditions were covered with at least a 6% coverage in the year.
During each eight hour shift the DMWR staff would travel back and forth within the selected route and write down any fishing activity seen on a Shore Based Creel Survey Participation Form (2002-2003). This form is like the 2004-Present one except that it allowed weather conditions to be entered as header information and not detailed information, it did not have a place to enter the route in the header data. It had a column for entering tide data and did not have a column for entering the run number or the weather conditions in the detailed data.
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| Sorting the Catch (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
To allow this participation data to be entered and analyzed along with the 1990 -1996 and the current data, the
Catch data was obtained by interviewing fishermen during the participation runs or on surveys dedicated solely to fishermen interviews. Parties that had no catch were recorded as such and included in the CPUE calculations. All fish were measured using a measuring board to determine length and weighed to the nearest ounce on a spring scale. The interview data collected was entered on a a Shore Based Creel Survey Interview Form (2002-2003).
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| Lobster and Menpachi for Sale (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
Interviews that had no indication of how long the fisherman was fishing were discarded and not entered into the system.
This Interview Form is like the 2004-Present one except that it allows a breakdown of the fishing party into Males and Females and over and under 14 years of age in the header data. It also has tide, reef condition and weather data but no route information in the header. The 2002-3 Interview form has columns for start and end interview time in the detailed data and not in the header data. It has no bycatch column and no column for entering scientific species names in the detailed data.
1990-1996
This protocol was done along a 16 km stretch of Southern Tutuila shoreline from Nu'uuli to Laulii entered in the current Amsam Shore-Based Creel Survey Data System as the Central 1990-1996 Route. The southern coast of Tutuila is bordered by fringing reef flats which vary in width from 50 to 900 m. The tidal amplitude averages 1 m, and a considerable amount of the reef flat is exposed at low tide. The reef front at the seaward margin of the reef flat slopes steeply from 4 to 10 meters at the upper edge to a gently sloping sand and rubble bottom at 20 to 40 m.
The area encompasses a wide variety of habitats and levels of human impact. Part of the survey area borders Pago Bay, a deep (30 - 60 m) harbor. This area is highly populated and developed, and there is some industrial pollution. Most of the coral reefs there have died off. The remainder of the study area borders the outer harbor and coastal areas adjacent to the harbor. The outer harbor area is moderately developed, and subjected to relatively heavy human impact on the reefs due to garbage disposal, swimming, fishing and gleaning activities. The outer villages such as Laulii are primarily impacted by moderate fishing pressure.
DMWR staff normally sampled 3 days a week following a monthly schedule that ensured every hour in the 24 hour day, every day of the week and all lunar, tidal, weather conditions were covered with at least a 6% coverage in the year. During each eight hour shift the DMWR staff would make four runs from one end of the route to the other to determine the participation count. These runs were not to exceed one hour and usually lasted from 30 to 45 minutes. All fishing activity seen during these runs was entered on a Shore Based Creel Survey Participation Form (1990-1996).
This form is like the 2002-2003 form except that it has no fields for entering the type of day or shift times as header information. It had a column for entering weather data and did not have a column for entering the tide data in the detailed data.
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| Coconut Crabs in a Basket (Click on Picture for a Larger Version) |
Runs where no fishing activity occurred were also entered into the system to accurately account for these zero-participation runs.
The catch was sampled opportunistically or during the time between runs during a shift and the detailed catch was entered a Shore Based Creel Survey Interview Form (1990-1996).
This interview form is like the 2002-2003 form except that it has disposition, home village and complete/incomplete fields in its header. It doesn't have any field for entering weather, tide or reef condition in its header. It has no start time or end time fields in its detailed data as that is covered by the interview time and hours fished fields in its header.
Interviews were only taken if the fishermen had been fishing for at least a half-hour. If all of the fish could not be measured individually they would be entered as so many pounds of a certain species or as so many pounds of miscellaneous fish if the species could not be determined.