*We welcome Mike Radice this week as a guest columnist to Bassin' Bio
August 4, 2008
Slot Limit Culture
Management efforts toward curbing harvest, allowing fish to grow, and bolstering future fish populations in many lakes and reservoirs around the country have turned to slot limits only to see mixed results.
Designed to protect certain classes of fish, slot limits can produce as many challenges as they prevent. But besides the obvious benefit of preserving and building fisheries, the restriction has created a culture which defeats the initial goals and objectives.
Basically, today’s anglers will not keep fish.
What a slot limits does, in theory, is to control the number of desirable fish being taken from a fishery. When utilized properly the slot limits keep the population of reproductive age fish plentiful to bolster future generations, control ecosystem balance with other aquatic species and available forage, and give anglers a shot at all sizes of fish. The evidence of success is easy to check - check a livewell at the boat ramp.
“There is no doubt that without slot limits and size restrictions we would not have quality fisheries in some areas,” states Roger Schneidervin, fisheries biologist for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR). “The trick is getting those same anglers who dedicated themselves to preserving the resource to now start taking some of those same fish once the restrictions have been lifted.”
Most slot limit restrictions focus on preserving trout and bass species, especially in places where reproduction efforts are stymied due to difficult or impossible spawning habitat, inadequate forage, high fishing pressure and recreational objectives such as managing for a trophy fishery. Many so called “trophy” trout and bass fisheries are managed with a slot limit enforced to preserve mature fish species.
Sometimes it is difficult for managers to define what a trophy fish is. “It really varies from person to person,” says Lowell Marthe, aquatics biologist for the DWR at Flaming Gorge Reservoir. “Most anglers who look for lake trout think a trophy is around 20 pounds and 33 inches;” a wall-hanger for any angler.
Bass are defined similarly according to Craig Schaugaard, regional aquatics manager for the DWR. “Most bass anglers in Utah like to think that a bass weighing around four to five pounds is a real trophy.” For bass in Utah, that is a big fish. With restrictions from 12 to 15 inches on bass for immediate release, even a two-pounder is something to marvel.
In essence, anglers form an attachment to their quarry in a ritualistic, perhaps even conservationist approach. Slot limits mean no fish during the restriction and they will not keep them once it has been lifted. “Experienced anglers will not take any fish,” Marthe said. “Bass anglers are the same way,” Schaugaard agreed. “Most bass anglers simply refuse to take any fish, no matter what the size restriction.” One angler even stated that taking and eating a largemouth bass was like eating the family dog. There is real attachment.
There is plenty of data to support such protective behavior. Take for example the creel data from 2003 at Flaming Gorge. Nearly 44,000 lake trout were reported caught during the year-long season. Anglers stated that they kept only 18,200 fish. So, over 50% of the lake trout were released back into an already highly forage-competitive lake. “When you have that happening, a slot is not going to make a difference,” Schneidervin said. “We do not have any more recent hard numbers but surveys at the ramp support the numbers, even today,” Marthe added.
Slot limits create another side effect for aquatic managers - call it a cultural phenomenon, call it loyalty to the species, or simply call it resistance to change. “Oddly enough, most of the hardened lake trout anglers will not keep the fish they catch. They pursue the larger fish but release them, not helping the population objectives,” Schneidervin said. Bass anglers mirror that trend.
Anglers can take it to a fault when, in some cases, they are the front line for population management. Now, after years of asking anglers to release fish, they are needed to keep those fish. It creates a mentality in anglers that is hard to change.
Roger believes that aquatic managers run the risk of creating a mind set where you establish a pattern of angling behavior, be it lake trout, cutthroat trout, smallmouth bass, crappie, or any fish species. “The danger in having a real protective regulation at the outset of your management strategy is that you create a pattern of behavior and a mentality which you will have to reverse down the road, if the lake meets its objectives.”
“You have to ask anglers to do just the opposite of what you have enforced for the past several years. That is a slow sell compared to catch and release.”
Do slot limits make a difference? In theory a slot limit helps preserve a fish species and keep reproductive fish available to increase their population. Anglers reinforce that cycle with their zeal to catch and release.