As catch-and-release fishing has exploded in popularity over the past few decades, many fisheries managers across America have also seen a decrease in the amount of anglers keeping fish for food. Correlation doesn’t always mean causation, however, which caused some researchers to take a closer look at angler harvest trends. Their study focused on the Lee’s Ferry tailwater fishery in Arizona, which is right at the head of the Grand Canyon.
The researchers looked at 40 years of creel data cross-referenced with changing management regulations.
“Angler harvest rates declined during the study,” they wrote. “Significant differences in angler harvest rates were observed between angler groups using different gears. Anglers using fly-fishing gear were observed to have the lowest harvest rates, followed by anglers using spinning gear. Anglers using bait had the highest harvest rates over the course of the study.”
What stands out, though, is that the predominant type of gear used to fish at Lee’s Ferry changed throughout the 40 years of creel data. During that time, regulations on that portion of the Colorado River also changed to protect the rainbow trout and eliminate brown trout from the fishery.
All that led to a conclusion that many anglers were displaced from Lee’s Ferry due to management regulations. In plain English, that means gear and bait anglers quit fishing it as often in order to fish other waters where harvest opportunity was greater.
That doesn’t mean all gear and bait anglers are looking to harvest their catch, and the researchers don’t make that conclusion. Their biggest point was how effective some management techniques can be at preventing harvest entirely on certain rivers. This could be useful for conserving and protecting populations of threatened and endangered trout throughout the rest of the country.
“This change in harvest behavior was likely further increased by harvest-oriented anglers being displaced by restrictive harvest and gear regulations,” the study concludes. “Consideration of these factors may be beneficial for fisheries management decisions.”
You can view the entire study here.
Rivers and streams could be emptied of fish in a season if every angler kept a ‘limit’. The carrying capacity of natural reproduction without stocking is actually small. The highest fish densities are in tailwaters which are artificial environments and even they are listed as thousands per mile at most. with some tens of miles of cold water below the dam. The math shows that even highest capacity tailwaters only have tens of thousands of fish of catchable size. Natural streams limited to only natural reproduction have far fewer fish per mile .Now, figure the number of anglers per day times the official limits times the number of fishing days and the fish would be wiped out fast if people were to return to keeping and eating fish.
I’m getting tired reading ignorant catch and kill anglers use specious logic to rationalize killing wild fish and also stocking hatchery trout over wild fish populations. There is a time and place for killing wild trout, when you’re camping in western back country and maybe the stream you’re camping next to is overpopulated by invasive brookies. Otherwise, you’re just selfishly depriving other anglers of their chance to hook a fish. Go buy a bunch of golf clubs and leave us alone.