Steelheaders Value Their Fish!
Ann Arbor, MI — Avid Ohio Lake Erie steelhead (lake-run rainbow trout) anglers value their sport to the tune of $28.50 to $37.70 per fish.
For the first time Ohio Sea Grant researchers have estimated the value of this small but important fishery and found it to be highly prized by anglers. They estimate the value of steelhead fishing in Ohio's Lake Erie tributaries to be as large as $12 to $15 million per year.
"Knowing the value of this steelhead fishery will help policy makers to justify expenditures on stocking programs," said Dr. Brent Sohngen, Professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics at The Ohio State University.
"Economic information could be used to encourage policies focused on providing access to increased fishing opportunities or to encourage improvements in water quality that enhance fish catch rates," added Sohngen.
Ohio Sea Grant Extension Specialist Dave Kelch led the steelhead angler intercept survey effort to gather economic data on this fishery. Nearly 500 steelhead anglers were contacted on popular Ohio Lake Erie tributary streams for their names and addresses and 375 responded to the subsequent mail survey.
"Typical steelhead anglers were 46 years old, middle class, male, and had 9 years of steelhead angling experience," said Kelch. "Less than two-thirds of respondents fished with spinning tackle and one-third used fly tackle."
They mostly took single day trips (94% of respondents), traveling about 52 miles round trip. The value of the steelhead angling experience to participating anglers is estimated at $36 to $46 per trip and the money spent to participate in steelhead fishing is estimated at $26 per trip. It was also noted that steelhead anglers keep only one of every eight steelhead caught.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, stocks approximately 400,000 steelhead annually into five Lake Erie tributary streams.
Original Publication Information
Results of this study "The Value of Steelhead (Onchorhynchus mykiss) Angling in Lake Erie Tributaries," are reported by Dave Kelch, Frank Lichtkoppler, Brent Sohngen and Adam Daigneault in the latest issue (Volume 32, No. 3, pp. 424-433) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by the International Association for Great Lakes Research, 2006.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Dave Kelch, Ohio State University Extension / Ohio Sea Grant, 42110 Russia Road, Elyria, Ohio 44035; kelch.3@osu.edu; (440) 326-5851.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; editor@iaglr.org; (608) 692-1076.
Links
Since 1967, IAGLR has served as the focal point for compiling and disseminating multidisciplinary knowledge on North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. In part, IAGLR communicates this knowledge through publication of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, available to members in print and electronic form. A searchable archive of the journal is available online and includes the abstracts of articles from the journal's inception in 1975 through the most recent issue. In addition, complete articles are available to members who have signed up for an electronic subscription.