The sport catch record card is used to produce the annual sport harvest estimates for salmon, steelhead,
sturgeon, and halibut. Anglers holding in-sample cards are sent reminders to return their CRC’s. Harvest
summed from returned in-sample cards is expanded to account for the un-sampled cards (75%) and
unreturned cards. A bias adjustment factor is applied in some areas and species to account for successful
anglers returning cards at a higher rate than unsuccessful anglers. Creel survey data are substituted for
CRC data when available. The preliminary sport harvest estimates are sent to WDFW and Tribal biologists
statewide for review. After review comments are compiled and investigated, final sport harvest estimates are
prepared and distributed.
The methods used produce estimates of sport harvest, which have some level of uncertainty. This
uncertainty, or variance, is estimated and expressed with confidence levels, which are not provided in this
report. These variance estimates are available upon request.

Cards Issued 638,352
In-sample cards 159,588
In-sample cards returned 59,369
Expansion Factor
(Cards Issued / In-sample Returns) 10.75
Non-reporting bias correction factors
Salmon - Marine Area 5 1.00
Salmon - Puget Sound Marine Areas 1.46
Salmon - Freshwater, Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay 1.20
Steelhead 0.98
Sturgeon 1.00