Ben Beardmore

The importance of trip context for determining primary angler motivations: are more specialized anglers more catch-oriented than previously believed?

Abstract Most conclusions from general assessments of angler motivations indicate that noncatch motives are more important to anglers than catch motives. Such research usually assesses the general motivation structure by anglers. To assess both general and more context-specific angler motivations, we surveyed the same anglers from northeastern Germany using two phases of a complementary survey design. First, a 1-year diary was used to collect trip-specific information; second, a personalized mail survey was used to elicit context-specific motivation information. Anglers selected their most important motives for their most frequent trip–target species combination (i.e., context) from a list of 10 salient fishing motives. Anglers frequently cited catch motives as the most important across a range of target species, large-bodied species such as northern pike Esox lucius being primarily associated with trophy fishing. Some species (such as small-bodied cyprinids) were targeted for noncatch reasons, while othe...

Evaluating the Ability of Specialization Indicators to Explain Fishing Preferences

Understanding the predictive ability of recreation specialization to explain behavior is important for wildlife and fisheries management given the widespread use of specialization to capture diversity among outdoor recreationists. Using allocation of days among fishing opportunities in a discrete choice experiment, we studied the extent that specialization predicted preferences for attributes describing the opportunities. Latent class modeling revealed that three groups of anglers optimally captured preference diversity in our sample. To this base model, we sequentially added 11 metrics of angler specialization and used information theory to select the metric that best predicted group membership, namely centrality to lifestyle. Weaker evidence existed for the specialization dimensions “importance of catch,” “specialized gear use,” and a multidimensional self-classification approach, whereas indices of skill, media use, trophy fish, and harvest orientation were not supported. General specialization constructs such as centrality to lifestyle, therefore, might be best suited for predicting general fishing preferences and subsequent behaviors of anglers.

Species-specific preferences of German recreational anglers for freshwater fishing experiences, with emphasis on the intrinsic utilities of fish stocking and wild fishes

To answer the question, whether anglers have an intrinsic preference for stocking or a preference for catch outcomes (e.g. catch rates) believed to be maintained by stocking, a discrete choice experiment was conducted among a sample of anglers (n = 1335) in Lower Saxony, Germany. After controlling for catch aspects of the fishing experience, no significant influence of two stocking attributes (stocking frequency and composition of the catch in terms of wild v. hatchery fishes) on the utility gained from fishing was found for any of the freshwater species that were studied. It was concluded that the previously documented large appreciation of fish stocking by anglers may be indicative of an underlying preference for sufficiently high catches rather than reflect an intrinsic preference for stocking or the catching of wild fishes per se.

Estimating the consequences of wildfire for wildfire risk assessment, a case study in the southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada

Wildfire risk assessment research has made considerable progress towards estimating the probability of wildfires but comparatively little progress towards estimating the expected consequences of potential fires. One challenge with estimating wildfire consequences has been to identify a common metric that can be applied to consequences measured in different units. In this paper, we use the preferences of representatives of local fire management agencies as the common consequences metric and apply it to a case study in the southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia, Canada. The method uses an expert survey and a maximum-difference conjoint analysis to establish the relative importance of specific fire consequences. A fire with a major potential for loss of life was considered to be about three times worse than major damage to houses and 4.5 times worse than loss of a rare species. Risk ratings were very sensitive to changes in fire consequences ratings. As the complexity of values at risk and number of stakeho...

Addressing complexity and uncertainty: conceptual models and expert judgments applied to migratory birds in the oil sands of Canada

Complexity and uncertainty are inherent in social-ecological systems. Although they can create challenges for scientists and decision makers, they cannot be a reason for delaying decision making. Two strategies have matured in recent decades to address these challenges. Systems thinking, as embodied by conceptual modeling, is a holistic approach in which a system can be better understood by examining it as a whole. Expert elicitation represents a second strategy that enables a greater diversity of inputs to understand complex systems. We explored the use of conceptual models and expert judgments to inform expansion of monitoring around oil sands development in northern Alberta, Canada, particularly related to migratory forest birds. This study area is a complex social-ecological system for which there is an abundance of specific information, but a relatively weak understanding about system behavior. Multiple conceptual models were developed to represent complexity and provide a more fulsome view of influences across the landscape. A hierarchical approach proved useful, and a mechanistic structure of the models clarified the cumulative and interactive nature of factors within and outside the study area. To address gaps in understanding, expert judgments were integrated using a series of structured exercises to derive “weightings” of importance of different components in the conceptual models, specifically pairwise comparisons, Likert scaling, and a maximum difference conjoint approach. These exercises were helpful for discriminating the importance of different influences and illuminating the competing beliefs of experts. Various supporting tools helped us engage a group of experts from across North America, which included a virtual meeting, online polling, desktop sharing, web survey, and financial incentive. This combination of techniques was innovative and proved useful for addressing complexity and uncertainty in a specific natural resource management setting, which can be informative for others facing similar challenges.

How ecological processes shape the outcomes of stock enhancement and harvest regulations in recreational fisheries

Fish stocking and harvest regulations are frequently used to maintain or enhance freshwater recreational fisheries and contribute to fish conservation. However, their relative effectiveness has rarely been systematically evaluated using quantitative models that account for key size- and density-dependent ecological processes and adaptive responses of anglers. We present an integrated model of freshwater recreational fisheries where the population dynamics of two model species affect the effort dynamics of recreational anglers. With this model, we examined how stocking various fish densities and sizes (fry, fingerlings, and adults) performed relative to minimum-length limits using a variety of biological, social, and economic performance measures, while evaluating trade-offs. Four key findings are highlighted. First, stocking often augmented the exploited fish population, but size- and density-dependent bottlenecks limited the number of fry and fingerlings surviving to a catchable size in self-sustaining populations. The greatest enhancement of the catchable fish population occurred when large fish that escaped early bottlenecks were stocked, but this came at the cost of wild-stock replacement, thereby demonstrating a fundamental trade-off between fisheries benefits and conservation. Second, the relative performance of stocking naturally reproducing populations was largely independent of habitat quality and was generally low. Third, stocking was only economically advisable when natural reproduction was impaired or absent, stocking rates were low, and enough anglers benefitted from stocking to offset the associated costs. Fourth, in self-sustaining fish populations, minimum-length limits generally outperformed stocking when judged against a range of biological, social and economic objectives. By contrast, stocking in culture-based fisheries often generated substantial benefits. Collectively, our study demonstrates that size- and density-dependent processes, and broadly the degree of natural recruitment, drive the biological, social, and economic outcomes of popular management actions in recreational fisheries. To evaluate these outcomes and the resulting trade-offs, integrated fisheries-management models that explicitly consider the feedbacks among ecological and social processes are needed.

Ecological, angler and spatial heterogeneity drive social and ecological outcomes in an integrated landscape model of freshwater recreational fisheries

Freshwater recreational fisheries constitute complex adaptive social-ecological systems (SES) where mobile anglers link spatially structured ecosystems. We present a general social-ecological model of a spatial recreational fishery for northern pike (Esox lucius) that included an empirically measured mechanistic utility model driving angler behaviors. We studied emergent properties at the macro-scale (e.g., region) as a result of local-scale fish-angler interactions, while systematically examining key heterogeneities (at the angler and ecosystem level) and sources of uncertainty. We offer three key insights. First, the angler population size and the resulting latent reginal angling effort exerts a much greater impact on the overall regional-level overfishing outcome than any residential pattern (urban or rural), while the residential patterns strongly affects the location of local overfishing pockets. Second, simplifying a heterogeneous angler population to a homogenous one representing the preference and behaviours of an average angler risks severely underestimating landscape-level effort and regional overfishing. Third, we did not find that ecologically more productive lakes were more systematically overexploited than lower-productive lakes. We conclude that understanding regional-level outcomes depends on considering four key ingredients: regional angler population size, the angler population composition, the specific residential pattern in place and spatial ecological variation. Simplification of any of these may obscure important dynamics and render the system prone to collapse.

Eliciting Judgments, Priorities, and Values Using Structured Survey Methods

The judgments of scientists, priorities of managers, and values of stakeholders are unique aspects of knowledge embedded in environmental management. Structured survey methods enable statistically rigorous analyses to account for the unique perspectives of these audiences. Several considerations are critical for ensuring the successful application of these methods. The number and type of respondents affect the way in which surveys are designed. If unaddressed, frailties in human judgment and other practical considerations can impact the number and quality of responses. Various question types are available which include asking participants to respond using a single measurement scale or by making choices that require trade-offs among multiple and often competing attributes. At the heart of these considerations is the recognition of trade-offs, not only among different aspects of the decision, but also the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches for eliciting and aggregating stakeholder preferences. Experimental design considerations can help achieve a balance between the quantity and quality of data collected. Three case studies demonstrate application of these methods. The first illustrates heuristics that scientists used to characterize the significance of adverse events associated with a large-scale hydropower system in British Columbia, Canada. The next example demonstrates managers’ preferred options for regulating incidental take of migratory birds across Canada. Lastly, a survey of recreational boaters in northern Wisconsin, USA revealed differences in management priorities within a stakeholder group. Collectively, these examples demonstrate the broad usefulness of applying structured survey methods to real-world applications in environmental management.

Dr. Wolfgang Haider (1953 – 2015)

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the unexpected passing of Dr. Wolfgang Haider, who died on August 24, 2015 at the age of 62 following a bicycle accident in Austria. He leaves behind his wife, Dr. Ulrike Pröbstl-Haider, and two children, Jamila and Emanuel Haider. Wolfgang was born in Eisenstadt, Austria in 1953. After receiving a M.Sc. degree from the University of Vienna in geography and history and briefly working as a high school teacher, he traveled to Canada to pursue graduate degrees in geography at Carleton University (M.A.) and McGill (Ph.D. supervised by Dr. Gordon Ewing). Wolfgang’s Ph.D. research was truly innovative, and adapted recent developments from marketing and transportation and tourism to outdoor recreation research. This groundbreaking research ignited Wolfgang’s career-long passion for understanding the unavoidable tradeoffs that underscore most natural resource management issues in a wide range of applications, including many from wildlife and inland and coastal fisheries management. In times where the field of human dimensions of wildlife was still centered on North America, Wolfgang worked with dozens of international collaborators in a range of countries to redefine and apply the choice-modeling approach to wildlife and fisheries management problems across the world. Over the years, he became a respected leader in the field of tradeoff-based decision modeling that nicely complemented the more social–psychological tradition of human dimensions research. His education spanning two continents probably contributed to his amazing ability to interface among different research communities and to contribute to interdisciplinary projects involving natural and social scientists in natural resource management issues. Shortly after finishing his Ph.D., Wolfgang accepted a social research scientist position with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. He built an impressive research program based on theoretically grounded, yet pragmatic, research on decision-making by recreationists. Never content with the status quo, here too, he was an innovator. An outstanding example from his OMNR days was research he conducted with Drs. Terry Daniel, Brian Orland, Jordan Louviere, Michael Williams, and Len Hunt that sought to explain and predict destination choices by nature-based tourists traveling to northern Ontario. By combining choice modeling with the then fledgling approach of photographic manipulation (i.e., digital calibration of images), Wolfgang estimated how changes to the size, number, and orientation (spatial structure) of forest harvests could influence tourists’ destination choices and thus, the bottom line for tourism operators. This and other OMNR experiences shaped his unwavering commitment to ensure practitioners were able to access and use his research products.