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Trophy and Consumptive Value‐per‐Recruit Analysis for a Walleye Fishery
Author(s) -
Jacobson Peter C.
Publication year - 1996
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(1996)016<0075:tacvpr>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - trophy , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , value (mathematics) , geography , statistics , biology , mathematics , archaeology
A utility‐per‐recruit model was developed to compare trophy versus food (consumptive) values of a fishery for walleyes Stizostedion vitreum in Big Sand Lake, Minnesota. Trophy value was quantified by a mail survey that asked anglers to equate a large walleye in terms of the numbers of small (2‐Ib) walleyes they would have to catch to give them the same level of satisfaction. A 2‐Ib walleye was assumed to have only consumptive value. Trophy values (measured in 2‐Ib walleye units) of surveyed anglers increased exponentially as a function of walleye size (weight). Consumptive value was assumed to be simply the weight of the fish (divided by two to form 2‐lb walleye units). Big Sand Lake anglers were classified as consumptive oriented (53.1%) or trophy oriented (46.9%). Utility‐ (value‐) per‐recruit modeling predicted that trophy value of the fishery would be maximized at lengths of entry greater than 22 in, whereas consumptive value of the fishery would be maximized at a length of entry of about 18 in. High trophy values of the fishery, associated with lengths at entry greater than 26 in were generated at a cost of low consumptive values. Total value, calculated by apportioning computed catch to each of the angler types in the fishery, was maximized at an intermediate length at entry of 20 in.