The human factors of the sport and recreational fishery of San Carlos de Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina

Abstract

Salmonid recreational fisheries in Argentina are becoming economically important. However, studies that may help ensure the sustainability and development of the resource are lacking. Official management organizations see fishermen as a homogeneous group with rather simple resource use requirements. On the contrary, preliminary data indicate that they are a heterogeneous assemblage of people with differing interests in settings and complex motivations. This paper studies the different human groups that constitute the fishermen population in the area of San Carlos de Bariloche in Rio Negro province. Responses to 420 questionnaires and interviews were analyzed for distribution of age, sex, trip objectives, place of residence, trip duration, years of experience, number of fishing trips per season and preferences. Multivariate procedures, multiple factorial analysis and cluster analysis were used to identify and study different fishermen groups. Identified groups are complex and diverse with overlapping boundaries. The fact that Patagonia has a unique diversity with regard to water bodies where salmonids thrive allows for special regulations that could take into account the complexities of the human component, thus promoting management oriented towards the different human groups that use the resource.