Combining Farrell Frontier and Hedonic Travel Cost Models for Valuing Estuarine Quality

Abstract

A 1992 survey of Tennessee anglers was used to determine who is fishing and how often, the species they fish for, and how anglers perceive the regulatory structure. The results are based on telephone interviews with 450 active licensed an- glers. Nearly 81% of the anglers visited a Tennessee reservoir in 1992, while 41% fished warm water streams, 28% farm ponds, and 22% trout streams. Over 60% pre- ferred separate regulations for reservoirs. Active reservoir fishermen were more likely to support individual regulations. The participants were evenly split on whether a proposed regulation which has public support should be imposed even if the manage- ment agency does not feel the fishery would benefit. Eighty percent of the anglers indicated that existing fishing regulations were not complicated. Proc. Annu. Conf. Southeast. Assoc. Fish and Wildl. Agencies 47:767-774 Proper administration of fishery resources requires management authorities to have knowledge of the angler population served by the management agency. Specifically, authorities should be aware of the type and intensity of angler activi- ties, and understand angler preferences concerning existing and proposed management alternatives. To the degree that certain types of fishermen are less likely to support management policies, authorities should target educational pro- grams specifically at non-supportiv e anglers to gain greater public support for biologically viable management strategies. This study uses data gathered from a survey of Tennessee anglers to deter- mine who is fishing and how often, the species they are targeting and how anglers perceive the regulatory structure. We report the demographic factors of anglers which exhibit statistically significant relationships to angler support for the current