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Effects of a Recreational Dip‐Net Fishery on Rainbow Smelt Egg Deposition
Author(s) -
Brown Russell W.,
Taylor William W.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1995)015<0165:eoardn>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - recreational fishing , fishery , fishing , tributary , environmental science , recreation , biology , ecology , geography , cartography
We sampled egg deposition in three Lake Huron tributaries to measure the effect of recreational dip‐net activity on egg deposition by spawning rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax . We compared egg densities sampled nightly at paired sites, one of which was protected from fishing activity. We found that sites protected from the recreational fishery had significantly higher mean egg densities than sites that were vulnerable to disturbance by fishing activities (wading, net contact). When recreational fishing activity was absent, we found no significant difference in egg densities between paired sites, which indicated that our protection devices did not influence egg deposition. We found that the higher the level of recreational fishing effort (people/100 m 2 ), the greater the decline in egg densities in unprotected sites ( r 2 = 0.63). Our results indicate that net abrasion and wading associated with recreational dip‐net fisheries can significantly reduce egg density and that this reduction may limit reproductive success in areas where spawning habitat is limited and recreational fishing effort is intense. In aquatic systems where tributary recruitment of rainbow smelt is significantly affected by recreational fishing activity, regulations limiting effort or providing spawning refuges may be warranted.