Fishers working in vessels under 400 GT were the target popula-
tion. To select the respondent samples, the survey used a two-tier
sampling procedure. First, 10 of 38 fishermen’s associations spread-
ing along Taiwan’s coastal areas were chosen. These 10 associations
are located in the north, south, east and west of Taiwan as well as
the adjacent islets and are comprised predominantly of fishers who
are engaged in fishing activities. Second, a convenient sampling
procedure was used to select samples from the 10 associations; the
intention was to select 50 fishers from each association. 7 With the help of the associations, researchers approached fishers when they
came to the association office for business or when they were in
fishing harbor preparing for fishing trips or offloading catch. They
were asked whether they were willing to participate in the survey.
From December 2011 to May 2012, a total of 427 fishers completed
the questionnaires. The respondent sample, though not a random
sample of the total eligible fisher population, comprised fishers
affiliated to the major associations which are located in different
areas of Taiwan. The sample was 92.7% male. Over 82% of the
respondents were aged 51 and over. About 58% and 29% of the
respondents had a primary and a secondary educational back-
ground, respectively. 64.2% of the respondents have worked in the
fishing sectors for more than 20 years and 30.4% for 11–20 years.
About one third of the respondents engaged in gillnetting, 27% in
longlining and 19% in trawling.