Fishing Quality and Angling Effort Relationships in an Experimentally Stocked, Spatially-Structured Fishery

The quality of fishing opportunities available across the ‘angler landscape’ presumably influences the spatial distribution of angling effort.  However, fishing quality and angler effort relationships are both data-intensive and dynamic where the harvesting of fish can homogenize fishing qualities. Fortunately, stocking hatchery-raised fish decouples fishing quality from angler effort. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate whether changes in stocking density of rainbow trout yearlings influenced fishing quality and, ultimately, angling effort (monitored via time-lapse cameras) at 36 lakes across British Columbia; and (2) develop a mechanistic harvest-dynamic model linking changes in stocking densities to spatial patterns in angling effort and fishing quality. We found evidence on a subset of the 36 lakes that changes in stocking density can ultimately change angler effort. Our model indicated that stocking densities influenced the size and abundance of rainbow trout. Large changes in fishing quality facilitated changes to angling effort dependent on anglers’ response to changes in fishing quality. The dynamic link between angler harvest and fishing quality frequently led to an ideal free distribution. Our study indicated that changing management practices, such as stocking densities, can affect fishing quality but that anglers can exploit and homogenize quality over the landscape.