Survey of Non-Charter Boat Recreational Fishing in the U.S. Virgin Islands

A telephone survey was conducted by the U.S. Virgin Islands Division ofFish and Wildlife from July through September 1986 to evaluate the efficacy of telephone surveys as a sampling technique for obtaining reliable fisheries data, and to collect fisheries data for the recreational non-charter boat fishery around the Virgin Islands. The telephone survey was a limited success as less than half the calls in each of two strata were answered. Call response rate seemed to be related to the time at which calls were placed; PM response rate was higher than AM response rate. Survey results suggest that telephone surveys by themselves may provide biased data on recreational fishing in the Virgin Islands. Additional methods, such as mail surveys and limited creel surveys could be used to supplement the fisheries data gathered through telephone surveys. The results of this survey indicate that during the mid 1980s 10.8% of the residents of the Virgin Islands (approximately 10,800) fished recreationally (i.e., non-charter boat anglers). These anglers made modest demands of the resources (effort: 19,200 manhours^−yr; harvest: 24,648 kg^−yr) and modest contributions to the local economy ($88,925 ^yr). Effort and harvest were equally divided between the two strata, but 75% of the economic outlay occurred in the St. Thomas-St. John stratum. Snappers were the most frequently harvested species in both strata. Within stratum effort and harvest patterns suggest a depletion of nearshore stocks in the St. Thomas-St. John stratum that may be related to overharvest and to extensive coastal development.