Bernard et al. 1993

Bernard, D. R., W. D. Arvey, and R. A. Holmes. 1993. Operational planning: The Dall river and rescue of its sport fishery. Fisheries 18(2):6-12.

Since 1985, the Division of Sport Fish, a unit of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, has had a policy of operational planning to improve the management of Alaska's recreational fisheries through the practice of better science. The purpose of this policy is not to identify the needs of fisheries management, but to insure that information gathered to meet those needs is obtained accurately and at minimal cost. Specific objectives of research are tailored to the perceived requirements of fisheries management, risks of error in judgment are calculated as functions of sample sizes, and sample sizes are expressed as functions of budgets. Operational planning is also used to recognize assumptions inherent in sampling and experimental designs and to avoid the consequences of their violation. In 1987, the sport fishery for northern pike, Esox lucius, on the Dall River, Alaska, was threatened with closure because of a lack of information on sustainable yield. Planning for the 2-year research project instigated in 1988 to obtain this information serves as an example of the implementation of our policy of operational planning.