Trading off retained daily catch for longer seasons to maximize angler benefits in recreational fisheries management.

Recreational fishing benefits associated with angling opportunity, such as fishing season duration and certainty of season duration, may outweigh trip-based benefits, such as retained catch, in measures of angler utility. We developed an age-structured population dynamics model to predict how these three beneficial attributes are affected by four recreational management parameters: minimum size limit; bag limit; inter-season quota transfer limits; and in-season adjustment of season duration. We incorporated results of stated-preference angler surveys to produce a bioeconomic model for two case studies: Atlantic Florida red snapper, and central Oregon Pacific halibut. In maximizing long-term total utility, a strong trade-off between season length and retained daily catch was observed in both fisheries, arising from increased minimum size limits which lengthened fishing seasons but reduced daily retained catch. The optimal management policy across the combination of beneficial attributes was sensitive to assumptions of the curvature of utility functions, i.e. to the degree to which anglers value those attributes with diminishing marginal returns, but generally involved satisfying the strong stated preferences for increased angling opportunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of ICES Journal of Marine Science / Journal du Conseil is the property of Oxford University Press / USA and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)