Respondents were asked to record details of individual trips into
an electronic diary – created in Microsoft Excel – and return the file
via email on a fortnightly basis. Diarists were contacted fortnightly
to remind them to record and submit recent trip data to minimise
recall bias (see Lyle et al., 2002). Diary data fields were: respondent
contact details, trip date, start time/end time of fishing, weather
and ocean conditions, method(s) used, target species, experience
level, and catch details including species caught, number retained
and released, estimated or measured total length and/or weight,
trip-specific and annual expenditure. Although catch rates and
expenditure in this paper reflect that of individual fishers, diarists
were asked to record the number, age (in 5-year categories) and
club membership of fishing companions for each trip to obtain a
broader understanding of the fishery.