Motivations and Satisfactions of Lake Ontario Boating Salmonid Anglers

Abstract

Declines in populations of forage fish are leading fisheries management agencies to predict declining growth and survivorship of some Lake Ontario salmonids in coming years. These expectations have stimulated additional interest in research that can help managers predict how changes in fish populations or other fishing conditions may influence participation in the open lake fishery. Managers need additional understanding of angler motivations and satisfactions to effectively predict rates of fishing participation. We utilized a study of Lake Ontario salmonid anglers to test hypotheses about the relative importance of catch-related motivations and satisfactions within two angler subgroups (fishing tournament and salmon snagging participants) and among anglers at two levels of personal investment (i.e., high and low). Anglers were identified through a randomized sample of boat registrants in five New York State counties bordering Lake Ontario. Data on motivations and satisfactions were gathered through a self-administered mail-back questionnaire. Tournament anglers, salmon snaggers, and highly invested anglers were found to hold a range of motivations and satisfactions. Nevertheless, results also led to acceptance of our hypotheses that tournament anglers, salmon snaggers, and highly invested anglers all place high personal importance on catch-related motivations and satisfactions. Based on these results it is reasonable to expect some decrease in fishing participation by these angler subgroups if fish size or abundance decreases. Findings related to highly invested anglers are particularly noteworthy, given the fact that this group accounts for the majority of angler days and angler expenditures on Lake Ontario.