AUTHORS: Matthew Maldonado, University of North Dakota; Taufique Mahmood, University of North Dakota; David P. Coulter, South Dakota State University; Alison A. Coulter, South Dakota State University; Steve R. Chipps, U.S. Geological Survey; Maddy Siller, South Dakota State University; Michaela Neal, University of North Dakota; Ayon Saha, University of North Dakota; Mark A. Kaemingk, University of North Dakota
ABSTRACT: As climate change continues to manifest, its potential effects on angler behavior remain a blind spot in inland recreational fisheries. Predicted alterations to a waterbody’s hydrology, fish community, and infrastructure from climate change could ultimately influence angler behavior. The severity and impact of these alterations on angler behavior is currently unknown, despite the importance of angler effort for effective fisheries management. Previous research has shown that angler effort is closely tied to hydrology or waterbody surface area, with larger waterbodies attracting more angler effort. Establishing this link between resource availability and angler effort allows us to further our understanding of how anglers may respond to climate change. Our goal was to use a resource size (i.e., lake surface area) – use (i.e., angler effort) model to understand the potential influence of climate and hydrology on the spatial and temporal patterns of angler effort. We used this model to understand how drought and deluge cycles may influence the magnitude and distribution of angler effort within a basin (i.e., several watersheds). Our lake size – angler effort model was developed using historical creel survey angler effort and remotely sensed waterbody surface area data for 15 waterbodies in North and South Dakota from 1990 to 2019 (r2 = 0.86). We used this model to predict angler behavior by remotely sensing the surface area for 45 public waterbodies in the Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota, USA for 32 years (1990-2021). We tracked synchrony in angler effort in the basin, demonstrating spatial and temporal patterns that are tied to changes in lake hydrology and fishing opportunity for anglers. Our results allow managers to address the current blind spot of how anglers might respond to climate change by characterizing climate-related spatiotemporal dynamics in angler effort and identifying hotspots of high interannual variation in angler effort at a basin-level.
