TY - JOUR
T1 - Initial mortality in texas black bass fishing tournaments
AU - Ostrand, Kenneth G.
AU - Wilde, Gene R.
AU - Strickland, Dan W.
AU - Muoneke, Maurice I.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank T. H. Bonner, J. Kraai, R. W. Luebke, K. L. Pope, and M. A. Webb for commenting on the manuscript and G. Gilliland, H. Schramm, and R. J. Watson for helpful discussions. We also thank our colleagues with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Inland Fisheries Division, Region I, for numerous helpful comments. Partial funding for this study was provided by Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration, project F-30-R of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. This is contribution T-9-810 of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.
PY - 1999/11
Y1 - 1999/11
N2 - We studied self-reported measurements of initial mortality of black bass Micropterus spp. in 2,072 Texas fishing tournaments. Initial mortality varied by a factor of four among tournaments according to rules and format. The lowest initial mortality was reported for paper tournaments (1.1%), in which fish are captured, measured, and immediately released. Initial mortality was 4.0% in total-weight tournaments, 4.3% in road-runner tournaments, and 4.7% in big-fish tournaments. A lower rate of initial mortality (1.8%) was reported for large tournaments, those with 50 or more participants, than for smaller tournaments (4.1%). This suggests that larger tournaments may be conducted with rules and procedures that reduce initial mortality. For total-weight tournaments, we also compared self-reported measurements of mortality with those derived from a regression model that predicts initial mortality based on water temperature. Self-reported measurements of initial mortality averaged 4.2%, and predicted initial mortality averaged 4.1%. The general agreement between self-reported and predicted estimates of initial mortality suggests that, on average, black bass fishing clubs and tournament sponsors reliably report tournament-associated mortality.
AB - We studied self-reported measurements of initial mortality of black bass Micropterus spp. in 2,072 Texas fishing tournaments. Initial mortality varied by a factor of four among tournaments according to rules and format. The lowest initial mortality was reported for paper tournaments (1.1%), in which fish are captured, measured, and immediately released. Initial mortality was 4.0% in total-weight tournaments, 4.3% in road-runner tournaments, and 4.7% in big-fish tournaments. A lower rate of initial mortality (1.8%) was reported for large tournaments, those with 50 or more participants, than for smaller tournaments (4.1%). This suggests that larger tournaments may be conducted with rules and procedures that reduce initial mortality. For total-weight tournaments, we also compared self-reported measurements of mortality with those derived from a regression model that predicts initial mortality based on water temperature. Self-reported measurements of initial mortality averaged 4.2%, and predicted initial mortality averaged 4.1%. The general agreement between self-reported and predicted estimates of initial mortality suggests that, on average, black bass fishing clubs and tournament sponsors reliably report tournament-associated mortality.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0033429029&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1577/1548-8675(1999)019<1124:IMITBB>2.0.CO;2
DO - 10.1577/1548-8675(1999)019<1124:IMITBB>2.0.CO;2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0033429029
SN - 0275-5947
VL - 19
SP - 1124
EP - 1128
JO - North American Journal of Fisheries Management
JF - North American Journal of Fisheries Management
IS - 4
ER -