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Profile of Recreational Paddlefish Snaggers on the Lower Yellowstone River, Montana
Author(s) -
Scarnecchia Dennis L.,
Stewart Phillip A.,
Lim Youngtaik
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<0872:porpso>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - fishing , fishery , recreational fishing , recreation , catch and release , fish <actinopterygii> , geography , socioeconomics , ecology , biology , economics
In 1993, a questionnaire was administered to 353 recreational snaggers of paddlefish Polyodon spathula at Intake, Montana, an irrigation diversion dam on the lower Yellowstone River and the site of an annual harvest of 500–5,000 paddlefish. Through a questionnaire, snaggers were asked to describe their socioeconomic characteristics; their values, attitudes, and motivations regarding fishing for paddlefish; and their attitudes on specific fishery regulations. Snaggers were most likely to be young or middle‐aged men (modal age 30–39) and to be either unemployed or employed in professions yielding an annual income of US$20,000–40,000. Contrary to some stereotypes about snaggers, their values and motivations for snagging were similar to those of other more traditional anglers. Primary motivations for fishing included the opportunity to be outdoors, the experience and thrill of hooking a paddlefish, and to be with friends. A weaker motivation was to obtain meat for consumption (even though snaggers rated paddlefish meat highly), and few snaggers ate paddlefish eggs as caviar. The survey strengthens the concept that paddlefish snagging can be viewed as something other than a meat harvest. Snaggers preferred regulations that allowed them to catch and keep two fish, even though most said they did not have to catch two fish to be satisfied with the fishing experience. Results from the survey were used to implement a reduced bag limit and catch‐and‐release fishing periods.