(Anchorage) - Anglers who purchased a 2018 Alaska sport fishing license may soon receive a copy of the 2018 Alaska Sport Fishing Survey from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). This week, ADF&G Division of Sport Fish will begin mailing the first wave of 2018 Alaska Sport Fishing Surveys. The survey is sent to approximately 47,000 randomly selected Alaska resident and nonresident households having a person who purchased a sport fishing license in 2018 or who holds a permanent sport fishing and hunting license.

Conducted every year since 1977, the Alaska Sport Fishing Survey is a scientific survey that asks anglers to recall basic information on where members of their household sport fished, and report the number of days fished, and the number of fish caught and harvested by location. The information collected by the Alaska Sport Fishing Survey is used to produce detailed estimates of the total sport fishing days and the total number of fish caught and kept by species and location. This information, combined with other "on-the-ground" creel surveys and data gathering efforts are an essential part of the division's mission to protect and improve Alaska's sport fisheries.

Selected angler households will receive a detailed survey booklet and a full-color fish identification index. Postage-paid envelopes are provided for returning the survey to ADF&G.

For additional information about the survey, please contact the division at (907) 267-2280 or via email dfg.dsf.publications@alaska.gov. Results of the 2018 Alaska Sport Fishing Survey will be available by fall 2019. Results from previous years survey can be found on the Alaska Sport Fishing Survey webpage.

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