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Application of Angler Attitudes and Motives to Management Strategies at Missouri's Trout Parks
Author(s) -
Hicks Charles E.,
Belusz Lawrence C.,
Witter Daniel J.,
Haverland Pamela S.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(1983)008<0002:aoaaam>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - trout , fishing , fishery , catch and release , recreation , stocking , recreational fishing , revenue , rainbow trout , fish <actinopterygii> , geography , business , ecology , biology , accounting
The Missouri Department of Conservation manages four fishing areas on spring branches with water sources large enough to permit fish rearing and angling. These special areas, called trout parks, are stocked daily from March to October at a rate of 2.25 trout per anticipated angler. Each angler pays $1.50 for a daily fishing tag, an entitlement to keep five trout. Total revenues collected from the sale of daily tags and annual trout stamps are sufficient to defray costs of operating four trout hatcheries and one trout rearing station. Since 1960, visits to the trout parks have increased at an average annual rate of 4%; about 100,000 daily tags were sold at each park in 1980. In light of physical and fiscal constraints to stocking additional trout, a study was initiated with the goal of developing management responses to increased angler participation. Specific objectives were to determine anglers' motives and attitudes toward selected management alternatives, and catch and effort. About 16,000 anglers were contacted during the two year study (1979–1980). The study revealed that (1) angler success is high (80% catch at least one trout), (2) catching fish is a very important aspect of a fishing trip (a finding in contrast to some recent recreational research tending to downplay the importance of the catch), (3) trout park anglers are more tolerant of “crowds” than anglers studied in other settings, and (4) anglers did not support limiting fishing opportunity or the use of daily quotas. Management changes initiated on the basis of study results provide excellent opportunities for anglers to catch trout while reducing only slightly their present opportunities to keep trout. The Department has recently emphasized catch‐and‐release fishing by zoning areas of the stream, lengthening the fishing season, and motivating anglers to release trout through programs of information and recognition.