Fish management in the United States is in a state of flux.  Management agencies are adept and efficient at raising and stocking sport fishes, and understanding factors that impact fish populations; yet, concurrent with our ability to provide fishing opportunities, we have witnessed a significant decrease in the proportion of the human population that fishes, coupled with changes in the preferences of anglers for different types of fishing opportunities.  At the same time, agencies spend increasing resources dealing with other types of activities, such as invasive species, athropogenic habitat modifications, and endangered species.  These trends raise concerns about the future of recreational fishing, and the ability of agencies to provide for the continued conservation and management of fish resources.  This symposium brings together researchers and fisheries managers interested in the so-called “human-dimensions” of recreational fishing, with a focus on fishing motivations, constraints, and anglers’ preferences for fish conservation and management.  We believe that reconnecting with and extending the theoretical traditions that have been developed to understand and better provide for recreational fishing opportunities are important steps to ensuring the future of fisheries and the connection of the public to recreational fisheries.

Participants (not confirmed):

Jeremy Bruskotter, Ohio State

Sue Schroeder, University of Minnesota

David Fulton, U.S. Geological Survey

Dorothy Anderson, NCSU

Taylor Stein, University of Florida

Sonja Wilhelm-Stanis, University of Missouri

Kevin Hunt, Mississippi State University

Robert Arlinghaus, Berlin

Len Hunt, Ontario

Barabara Knuth, Cornell

Jerry Vaske, Colorado State Unviersity

Rich Stedman, Cornell

Stewart Allen, NOAA--Hawai'i

Kevin Page, Ohio DNR

Jen Wickal, MnDNR

Kevin Pope, U.S. Geological Survey, University of Nebraska

Larry Gigliotti, U.S. Geological Survey, South Dakota State University