Evaluating Effects of Sportfishing Regulations: Symposium Overview

Fishing regulations are a common tool used by fisheries agencies to manage both the biological and social aspects of fisheries.  Given the prevalence with which fisheries agencies use regulations as management tools, there is a great need to improve our understanding of their effects. This symposium will address our current understanding of the effectiveness, consistency, and uncertainty of implementing angling regulations.  Presentations span from the history of regulations to geographically broad case studies to synthetic reviews of what we know about implementation, evaluation and success of regulations.  The symposium will review and identify critical areas of uncertainty regarding effects of sportfishing regulations and stimulate discussion centered on the questions like: “What lessons have been learned from notable evaluation efforts?” “How and what should we be measuring to evaluate regulation efficacy?” “How and why is the efficacy of regulations so variable?” “How can we improve the outcomes of implementing regulations?”  In addition, the audience will be asked to participate in a survey that will be used to assess general perceptions and attitudes about our understanding of the effectiveness and uses of sportfishing regulations.