Fishing for Satisifaction

Brian Harmons Author

03/04/2016 Added

55 Plays

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Third Place in the Masters category of the 2016 School of Natural Resources Elevator Speech Contest. Brian is a master’s candidate seeking a degree in Natural Resource Sciences with a specialization in Applied Ecology.

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[00:00:00.000]Alright, thank you.
[00:00:01.604]So I study the factors
[00:00:03.345]that affect recreational fishermen, or angler,
[00:00:05.873]fishing location within a water body.
[00:00:08.311]To improve angler satisfaction,
[00:00:10.470]we first need to understand where and why anglers fish.
[00:00:14.069]Now, a satisfied angler,
[00:00:15.593]is an angler that's gonna return year after year,
[00:00:17.892]and purchase a fishing license,
[00:00:19.541]and that translates into funds for conservation.
[00:00:22.164]So if we improve angler satisfaction,
[00:00:24.602]we increase funding for conservation.
[00:00:27.087]So a simple explanation might be,
[00:00:29.618]that anglers choose to fish,
[00:00:31.057]either where there are fish, or where they catch fish.
[00:00:34.424]So in these scenarios, we would would expect,
[00:00:36.885]that within a water body,
[00:00:38.232]if we were to look at the distribution of anglers,
[00:00:40.687]it would match the distribution of fish or catch rates;
[00:00:44.495]however, multiple studies have shown
[00:00:47.258]that even after we take into account differences in skill,
[00:00:51.600]and an imperfect knowledge of where fish are,
[00:00:54.967]anglers do not match the distribution of fish.
[00:00:58.473]So instead, I decided to tackle the question of catch rates.
[00:01:02.025]And I did this in a put-and-take fishery.
[00:01:04.707]In a put-and-take fishery,
[00:01:06.397]recreationally sought after, catchable-sized fish,
[00:01:09.833]are stocked or put for recreational anglers to take.
[00:01:15.258]Now, if you look behind me, to my upper right,
[00:01:17.518]you'll see our water body.
[00:01:19.022]The darker areas represent where higher rates,
[00:01:22.429]or more fish per hour, were being caught.
[00:01:24.612]The lighter areas represent fewer fish per hour,
[00:01:27.491]and those blue dots represent
[00:01:29.319]where the anglers were during this time.
[00:01:31.432]Now, the anglers watched the fish go into the water body,
[00:01:34.242]and they're able to watch other anglers
[00:01:36.140]on that water body, catching fish.
[00:01:38.003]So they can use that information
[00:01:39.504]on other anglers' catch rates,
[00:01:41.222]to decide where they wanna fish;
[00:01:42.848]however, even though most anglers appear to be distributed
[00:01:46.116]where we would think they would be, with high catch rates,
[00:01:48.322]a substantial number are in less than ideal locations.
[00:01:51.364]As we move through time,
[00:01:52.731]and our catch rates, they start to become equivalent
[00:01:54.673]throughout this water body,
[00:01:55.993]we see that more and more anglers
[00:01:58.049]are redistributing themselves.
[00:02:01.235]Now, this isn't surprising
[00:02:02.527]when we consider what's going on here.
[00:02:04.129]Recreational angling, is just that.
[00:02:06.750]It's recreation.
[00:02:07.609]And the point of recreation, is to gain satisfaction.
[00:02:10.488]And while it's obviously satisfactory
[00:02:12.874]for an angler to catch a fish, it isn't the only factor.
[00:02:15.983]Other factors including
[00:02:17.492]fishing in a pleasing aesthetic environment,
[00:02:19.977]or fishing further away from other anglers
[00:02:22.293]to gain a sense of solitude, are also important.
[00:02:25.033]Now each, individual angler
[00:02:26.722]is weighing these different variables,
[00:02:28.325]and they're trying to maximize their satisfaction.
[00:02:30.971]We see this, because as the catch rates drop,
[00:02:33.218]more and more anglers choose to move to a new site
[00:02:36.103]that maximizes that satisfaction for them.
[00:02:38.605]So how do we manage for this?
[00:02:40.602]We want to think about managing for satisfaction,
[00:02:42.802]and in a put-and-take fishery,
[00:02:44.149]the answer's surprisingly simple.
[00:02:45.937]We can think about stocking multiple locations
[00:02:48.491]throughout the entire water body,
[00:02:50.046]to increase catch rates for all anglers,
[00:02:52.624]while allowing them to fish where they prefer.
[00:02:55.248]In doing so, we can use catch rates
[00:02:57.495]as a tool for satisfaction,
[00:02:58.981]and increase funding for conservation.
[00:03:01.094]Thank you for your time.
[00:03:02.231](audience applause)

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Fishing for Satisifaction

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