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Allen, Micheal S.

Specialist

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Allen, Micheal S.

Specialist

professor, freshwater fisheries & ecology, UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences; and director, UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station, Cedar Key, FL

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Publications

Recreational Fishing Effort and How Management Actions Can Affect It—Part 1: Theory

Edward Camp, Micheal S. Allen, Thomas T. Ankersen, Savanna Barry, and Mark W. Clark

Recreational fishing is especially important to Florida’s economy and ecosystems. One of the most important metrics of recreational fisheries is “effort”—defined as the number of trips taken during a time and place. Effort is so important because it directly affects fish population sustainability, economic value and market activity. But what determines fishing effort? This publication describes the mechanisms that drive fishing effort. It specifically details the processes by which management actions can directly and indirectly affect fishing effort, and how feedbacks between these actions can change effort. The information in this document is critical for people involved with management decisions, like agency personnel and their stakeholders; those wanting to explain it to others, like extension agents; directly affected stakeholders like recreational fishers and guides; or simply the general public who want to know more about recreational fisheries in Florida.

Recreational Fishing Effort and How Management Actions Can Affect It—Part 2: Literature and a Case Study

Edward Camp, Micheal S. Allen, Thomas T. Ankersen, Savanna Barry, and Mark W. Clark

Recreational fishing, crucially important to Florida’s economy and ecosystems, can be affected by management decisions. Decisions that change the allowable harvest or the type of access to certain fishing areas are often expected to have strong effects on fishing effort, but the outcome of these actions is not always obvious. To provide greater insight into what may happen to fishing effort after management decisions, we describe case studies from the North American fisheries literature, some Florida-specific. These illustrate that the same or similar management actions (e.g., a more restrictive harvest policy) can have opposite effects on total fishing effort depending on the specifics of the case. We use this information as well as additional fisheries theory to explore a specific case study—what might happen if special harvest or access regulations were applied to a popular but ecologically and environmentally sensitive habitat—Florida's St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve.