Starting this week, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is mailing the 2022 Alaska Sport Fishing Survey to randomly selected anglers who purchased an Alaska sport fishing license this year.
According to a press release from ADF&G, the first wave of surveys will be sent to around 47,000 resident and nonresident households with at least one sport fishing license or license card registered.
The survey has been conducted annually since 1977, and will query anglers for basic information about how many days they fished, how many fish they caught, and where.
Postage will be provided so the surveys can be mailed back.
The release says the information collected will inform estimates of the total fishing effort, the number of fish caught and kept by species, and fishing locations.
“This information, combined with other on the ground creel surveys and data gathering efforts are an essential part of the Division of Sport Fish’s mission to protect and improve Alaska’s sport fisheries,” the release says.
Questions about the survey can be directed to Statewide Harvest Survey staff at 907-267-2280. Results will be made publicly available by next fall. Information from previous surveys can also be found at adfg.alaska.gov.
The most recently uploaded survey — with numbers from 2020 — shows that, for anglers who fished on the Kenai Peninsula, around 5,000 responses were received, showing 100,000 anglers sport fishing for 419,000 days and catching 397,000 fish.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
