Biological, Social, and Economic Impacts of Exempting a Largemouth Bass Fishing Tournament from Slot Length Limits at Lake Fork Reservoir, Texas Page: I
i, 59 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
ABSTRACT
Biological, social, and economic impacts of exempting largemouth bass fishing
tournaments from slot length limits were evaluated at Lake Fork Reservoir. Two tournaments
were conducted simultaneously. One, organized by Angler's Choice in cooperation with Texas
Parks and Wildlife, in which entrants paid US$250 per team with a prize of US$10,000 to the
winner. The other was a simulated tournament to investigate mortality associated with catch and
release and culling of fish; these data can be difficult to get without being unduly intrusive, and
disrupting the normal prize tournament process. Observers accompanied some anglers in both
tournaments. Catch-and-release as well as catch-and-cull fish were collected from the simulated-
tournament anglers whereas weigh-in fish were collected from the prize-tournament anglers.
After the tournament, we used a mail survey to measure stakeholder attitudes and opinions about
the exemption from slot length limits and to estimate economic impact of the tournament. The
presence of observers had no apparent effect on the catch, in either tournament. There was no
significant difference between the two tournaments in angling success, fish size distribution, or
bag size. Larger fish had higher mortality rates. Initial mortality was minimal, but delayed (6-d)
mortality was highest for the weigh-in fish (38.2%), followed by catch-and-cull fish (19.6%),
and catch-and-release fish (2.5%). We estimated 127 fish died as a result of the prize
tournament: 84% were weigh-in fish and 77% were within the slot. Most prize-tournament staff
(100%), prize-tournament participants (71%), and merchants (61%) supported allowing
tournament slot-length-limit exemptions at Lake Fork Reservoir. Most guides (75%), area
anglers (67%), and spectators (56%) opposed exemptions. Our survey suggested that support for
exemptions would decline as tournament-induced mortality increased. The tournament's total
economic impact on the Lake Fork area was US$126,434 and some US$36,054 in economic
impact to Texas from new money from out of state.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Barkoh, Aaron. Biological, Social, and Economic Impacts of Exempting a Largemouth Bass Fishing Tournament from Slot Length Limits at Lake Fork Reservoir, Texas, book, 2012; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth578487/m1/3/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.