GBR Recreational Fishing Survey: Attitudes and Spatial Effort Pre- and Post-2004 Rezoning

Survey data from 2,675 recreational fishers in the Great Barrier Reef region, collected via telephone, mail, and face-to-face methods between 2006 and 2008. The dataset captures quantitative attitudinal and perception data, plus extensive spatial data on fishing locations, related to the 2004 rezoning of the marine park. It is associated with research published in Environmental Conservation and hosted by the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Use Cases

• Analyze changes in the spatial distribution of recreational fishing effort based on pre- and post-rezoning location data.
• Model fishers' attitudes and perceptions regarding marine park management changes using quantitative survey responses.
• Assess the socio-economic impacts of marine protected area zoning on a recreational user community.

Strengths

• Combines survey responses from 2,675 individuals across three collection methods (telephone n=1743, mail n=800, face-to-face n=132).
• Includes both attitudinal/perception data and spatial fishing location data, enabling linked socio-spatial analysis.
• Data collection is tied to a specific, well-documented policy event (the 2004 GBR rezoning) with a published academic reference.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• The primary data file format is listed as PDF, which may complicate direct analysis of the underlying structured data.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, associated with research from James Cook University (MTSRF 4.8.5, JCU).

Collection Method

Data gathered via telephone, mail, and face-to-face surveys of recreational fishers.

Time Range

2006 - 2008

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-13 11:50:39.417113; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Great Barrier Reef region, Australia.