Warmwater Stream and River Fisheries in the Southeastern United States: Are We Managing Them in Proportion to Their Values?

We compared findings on stream and river fishing activity in the southeastern United States from the 1991 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife‐associated Recreation with those on stream and river management programs in this region from a 1995 survey by Warmwater Streams Committee of the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society. Based on the 1991 national survey, two‐fifths of all anglers in the Southeast fished streams and rivers; almost one‐fourth of the total number of days fished by southeastern anglers were in this water type; and more than half of all trip expenditures, including those associated with lakes, reservoirs, and ponds, were made by stream and river anglers. In comparison, southeastern state agencies reported in 1995 that they allocated 10%–19% of their total fisheries budget and an average of 5 people to programs that manage stream and river resources. Approximately one‐third of the states had completed fish inventories of less than one‐third of their streams and rivers. One‐fourth did not have an active warmwater stream and river management program. States with high angler use and abundant stream and river resources tended to have well‐developed management programs (e.g, Virginia, West Virginia), whereas states with low use and limited riverine resources had less‐developed programs (e.g., Oklahoma, Texas). The remaining states fell between this range. Given the substantial use of southeastern warmwater stream and river fisheries, we recommend that state agencies increase their emphasis on and proportionally allocate greater human and monetary resources toward managing these valuable resources.