Modelling angler behaviour as a part of the management system: synthesizing a multi‐disciplinary literature

Abstract

It is often said that managing fisheries is managing people. This truism implies that fisheries science inherently involves disciplines that focus on fish and their population dynamics, humans and their behaviour, and policy and decision making. This is particularly true for recreational fisheries, where the human behavioural motivation and human response to management actions may be more difficult to predict than in commercial fisheries. We provide a synthesis of the multi‐disciplinary literature on modelling recreational angler behaviour to inform management of recreational fisheries. We begin by defining the recreational fisheries system in an interdisciplinary manner. We then assess the literature for empirical evidence of disciplinary crossover. Using bibliometric data, we provide evidence that there is little disciplinary crossover, particularly between fisheries biology, including applied ecology, and quantitative social science, including economics. We identify critical barriers to disciplinary crossover, such as database indexing issues and nomenclature. Next, we provide a review of critical contributions to the literature, and locate these contributions within our interdisciplinary conceptualization of the recreational fisheries system. This synthesis is intended to be a cross‐disciplinary bridge to facilitate access to the broader literature on modelling angler behaviour, with the ultimate goal of improving recreational fisheries management.

Resilient recreational fisheries or prone to collapse? A decade of research on the science and management of recreational fisheries

“…An alternate empirical approach to making empirical observations of angler distribution over landscapes, one more often used by social scientists, is to use revealed or stated preference surveys to model angler spatial behaviour mechanistically (Beardmore et al 2011;Fenichel et al 2012). These models could be used in a spatial simulation of angler effort distribution over landscapes in which traits of individual fisheries differ.…”

“…This paper elicited a flurry of interest in recreational fisheries in Canada and elsewhere, in the public media, within management agencies and the scientific community. Ecological processes include ecosystem productivity, food web processes and life history characteristics (Shuter et al 1998;Post et al 2002); Harvest processes result from the aggregate behaviour of anglers and their decisions on where and how much to fish (Hunt et al 2011;Fenichel et al 2012). It also received substantial criticism as alarmist.…”

Smartphones Reveal Angler Behavior: A Case Study of a Popular Mobile Fishing Application in Alberta, Canada

“…Typically, angler behavior is quantified through a variety of empirical approaches (e.g., creels, diaries, interviews, mail surveys) that vary widely in effort, cost, and efficacy (Fenichel et al 2013;Griffiths et al 2013). However, these approaches tend to produce retrospective data that are limited in time or space and often reveal intensions or attitudes rather than actual behaviors (Adamowicz et al 1994).…”

A mechanistic understanding of hyperstability in catch per unit effort and density-dependent catchability in a multistock recreational fishery

“…Since catchability is the key variable that describes the dynamic interaction between angler effort and fish density, several authors have emphasized the importance of understanding the relationship between catchability and fish density (Johnston et al 2010;Hunt et al 2011a;Fenichel et al 2013). However, the more fundamental role of catchability in recreational fisheries is that it dictates an angler's perception of a fishery and influences angler behaviour (relating to choice of fishing site).…”

“…Hyperstability results in the "illusion of plenty", where the stock is presumed to be abundant as a result of high CPUE, and no management action is taken until both the fishery and fish population collapses (Post et al 2002;Erisman et al 2011). Therefore, catchability is a key variable driving the dynamic interaction between angler effort and fish density, and the need to better understand catchability in recreational fisheries is well recognized (Hunt et al 2011a;Fenichel et al 2013;Post 2013).…”