Determining the effect of environmental accidents on responses to a Gulf of Mexico recreational for‐hire fishing industry survey^a

Abstract

A survey designed to collect economic, attitudinal and policy data from the recreational for-hire (RFH) fishing industry in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico was conducted before and during the largest marine oil spill in U.S. history (the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout). Respondents were grouped into two time periods based on when the survey was completed, where the break in groups was determined through the examination of the Pew Research Center's media coverage index and the per cent of fishing area closures due to the oil spill. A logistic regression was used to test variables that might predict the time period of a response. Results indicated that recall bias was not present in the financial variables examined, but that firm operating and demographic characteristics (i.e. vessel size, annual number of trips, number of vessels operating in the firm, tenure and household income) were significant in explaining the time period in which surveys were completed.

Selected Papers from the Sixth World Fisheries Congress

“…The papers can be divided into five sub‐sections: those dealing with the biology of species or ecosystems (Begoña Santos et al , ; McIntyre et al , ; Righton & Walker ), those specifically tackling issues of biology which bear on the management of exploited species (Eno et al , ; Gilman et al , ; Perez et al , ; Pranovi et al , ), a group of five papers on management issues (Arkhipkin et al , ; Florin et al , ; Houle et al , ; Pitcher et al , ; Rätz et al , ), a section dealing with the increasing involvement of stakeholders in both science and management (Armstrong et al , ; Cooke et al , ; Field et al , ; Kraan et al , ; Savolainen et al , ) and finally two papers examining fish as a raw material for industry or human consumption (Beveridge et al , ; Shepherd & Jackson ). This eclectic range of subjects reflects the diversity of the congress, although it does not capture the detailed breakdown of fisheries science as represented by the full programme.…”