Anyone else get asked to take a Marine fisheries survey?

[Diggin Jiggin]

I got a call on saturday from a group peforming a saltwater marine fisheries survery for Mass. Anyone else get asked to do this or have any idea what its about ? They wanted to know when you fished, what county, boat or beach, bay,inlet,ocean, on and on...


Ok First question. When is the last time you fished in saltwater?
Um, yesterday. Ok, can you give me some details about that trip. Sure, so I gave her what she wanted to know about that one...


Ok,next question.
When was the time you went previously to that trip ?
Um, day before yesterday. can you give me details about that trip...

At which point I stopped her and asked how far back she wanted to go. To which she says Septemer 1 thru november 1.

Now there's no way I can do that, too many trips, to too many places. So she asks me how many days in that 2 month range I think I fished.

Um, lets see. I hurt my back and was out for 5 days, and there was some bad weather in there,, so lets see, conservatively maybe 45 days? Although it was probably a few more than that.

Excuse me, did you say 45 days.
Um ya, 45 days...

Funny thing is they never asked what species I was fishing for, so they had no idea it was bass fishing, or that it was the fall run... And if they asked next month they'd get very different numbers ...