BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

On 4 Dec 2005 18:05:45 -0800, wrote:

Actually counting fish is very easy. Just as long as a few facts are
known.
1) How do the fish get into the boat?

Trawlers, so nets.

2) How big are the fish? Are you talking 0.25 Kg squid or a 200 Kg
tuna?

This is Asia - basically anything that gets into the net stays in the net,
and goes into the hold. From minnows to marlin. Sorting is done onshore when
the boat gets back to land. In general they are aiming for fish of 10kg
downwards.

But even more important..... WHY do you want to know how to estimate
catch size on other people's boats?

Because the government wants to know so they can stop their fishermen selling
their catch overseas.

Also who is going to use, and for what purpose, is the data being
collected? Are you a NGO, host nation, commercial fishing association,
or associated with a do-good save he the whales group?

Does this change the way it would be done?

By your inability to describe the situation I imagine you have no
commercial fishing experience and also do not understand basic
statistical sampling methods.

Apart from the fact that my father is a commercial fisherman, I agree that I
have little experience in this field. Which is why I am asking questions.

It's not so much of an inability to describe the situation, but a reluctance
to do so as this is a project which has certain sensitivities & even possibly
commercial considerations. I am happy to give information that is pertinent
to the technical problem at hand though.

So help me out here. Why do you want to know how to estimate catch size
of someone else's boat. Do you have the owner/operator's
permission to do that?

I am pretty sure I mentioned this before on a previous post. To stop the
fishermen selling their catch in neighbouring countries as they are using
subsidized fuel, and nobody wants to subsidize fishermen from one country to
have them sell their catch in another country.

Permission - Yes - by law.

Dave