An Internet survey of private pond owners and managers in Texas

Abstract

This study was designed to integrate a mailing list-based survey with an internetbased presentation/response in order to take into account the trend toward selfadministration that is evident in everyday interactions with automated services that have taken the place of personal interactions. A random sample of 2,999 was taken from applicants for Triploid Grass Carp Permits from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. A forty-nine question survey was constructed containing five sections: general pond characteristics, physical pond characteristics, aquatic vegetation, fish and other wildlife, and management goals. The primary emphasis of this study was to determine what specific problems Texas pond owners faced, how widely these problems occurred, and where pond owners got the information they used to deal with pond management problems. A secondary emphasis of the project was to examine the potential presented by the Internet for use in this type of information gathering and distribution for Texas Cooperative Extension. An overall response rate of 21.3% (excluding non-deliverables and unusable submitted surveys) was obtained. Summary statistics for each question were calculated and then compared in order to gain a clearer picture of the pond management practices employed by Texas pond owners. These results indicated some initial discrepancies between pond owners?? management practices and current management recommendations, most dramatically where aquatic vegetation was concerned. The internet-based survey methodology worked effectively to lower the cost of distribution and the workload of data entry when compared to the mail survey. These benefits outweighed the disadvantages caused by survey error with the new methodology.