I also agree that Rec anglers need to assit in providing data for the fishery. I think it was Lovey80 (???) that also had a similar idea to mine when it comes to sampling due to the fact that only Gold Coast data was extrapolated last time. The idea was to break into zones - for example Gold Coast, North Stradbroke, Moreton, Caloundra etc. approx 50klm zones. It would also be useful to add the amount that we fish: for example ~ once per month (me), 5 times per month, greater then 10 times per month.
To be statisticaly correct you need a sample size of at least 30.
Lets take one zone: Moreton
Divide into frequencies: 1 per month, 5 per month, 10 times per month
From this information you could start to obatin some reasonable data about the fishery and take from the Rec Sector.
The final piece of the puzzle is to then work out amongst all the rec fishing fraternity what is the weighting of each of the Frequencies i.e. how many rec fishers fish once a month, 5 times a month, 10 times a month. This would then allow data collected in each zone to be extrapolated into something that is meaningful.
This could be achieved by survey, phone poll, questionarie with rego (I'm sure many other ways)
I for one would volunteer my time to do this. For the Moreton district, approx 90 volunteers would be needed and the same for the Gold Coast, Nth Stradbroke etc.
I am sure there would be others willing to to do the same??
What would I like in return?? (nothing is free)
I would like the data being entered by the volunteers to be transparent on a website. I can see what I'm entering, how it totals up for the month / year by region etc.
Why do I want it transparent?? - When people start saying "there is no way that 80% of the population fishes 10+times per month" you can then ask if they have repsonded to the weighting survey. Start putting the responsibility back to the people that aren't responding. Transparency will assist in getting the correct results. It takes longer to type a message here than ticking a box 1/month (etc)
I am not a scientist, and haven't been at uni for many years so the above is a the sort of thing that I would like to see and willing to assist in developing. Albeit it may have to be tweaked to get the correct coverage etc.
Kind of sounds like a great thesis for someone at UNI doing a doctorate etc
Regards Adam