Description
The disparity of fishing pressure and available resource has prompted concerns regarding the impacts of competitive fishing events on fish resources and traditional sportfishing. These events tend to attract more anglers to the water bodies where they are held than might otherwise visit and a large portion of the total annual harvest of some species can be taken in just a few days. Although many events adopted a catch and release format to address the issue of increased fishing pressure, studies conducted in Alberta have shown that fish survival can be very low, and few competitive fishing events have total fish mortalities below 10%. Increased survival rates of released fish can be achieved by regulating where, when and how events are run, by instituting best management practices and by educating anglers on proper fish handling techniques.