To evaluate the economic effects of bag limit and minimum size regulations, it is important to understand how anglers' valuation of catch varies. Using a sportfishing demand model, we estimated angler willingness to pay (WTP) for groupers Epinephelus spp. and Mycteroperca spp., red snapper Lutjanus campechanus, dolphinfish Coryphaena hippurus, and king mackerel Scomberomorus cavalla by using data from a choice experiment survey with questions about fishing trips in the southeast USA. Beyond differentiating by species and the number of fish caught (second through sixth), our catch disposition model separately estimated angler WTP for one additional fish caught and kept, caught and released due to a minimum size limit, and caught and released due to a bag limit. Angler valuations of groupers, red snapper, and king mackerel were similar and more than five times the angler valuation of dolphinfish. For all species, the angler valuation decreased with each successive fish. For red snapper and groupers, anglers indicated that keeping a fish was worth more than eight times the value of releasing the fish due to a bag limit. For all species except king mackerel, angler WTP did not differ much between a fish released due to a bag limit and a fish released due to a size limit. For king mackerel, the value of a fish caught and released due to a bag limit was more than 2.5 times the value of a fish released due to a size limit and was nearly half the value of a fish that was caught and kept. We compared our angler WTP values with those in the literature, and we provide a policy application example. Results suggest that measures of the economic effects of sportfishing regulations can be seriously misstated if the species, number, and disposition of the catch are not considered.By convention, the economic value assigned to a recreationally caught fish is conceptually defined by the amount of money an angler is willing to give up to catch the fish. This willingness to pay (WTP) for a fish can differ according to (1) species;(2) size; (3) the species, number, and size of the fish that have already been caught; and (4) whether the angler keeps or releases the fish (i.e., the disposition of the fish caught). This last factor will be partially circumscribed by regulations in managed fisheries. In such cases, angler WTP can be measured separately for fish that are caught and kept and fish that are caught but cannot be kept because of regulations. Further, the WTP can differ for different types of regulatory releases imposed, such as angler WTP for fish caught and released due to a minimum size regulation or angler WTP for fish caught and released due to the bag limit. This distinction is important because fishery

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