Quantifying and reducing catch-and-release mortality of trout to support a wilderness tourism experience at Kenauk Resort

Kenauk Nature是一家以营利为目的的公司，致力于为客户提供独特的休闲机会，包括休闲钓鱼。Kenauk在魁北克拥有并管理约65，000英亩土地，拥有超过70个私人湖泊。Kenauk品牌的核心是为客户提供“荒野”体验-在鱼类丰富的原始环境中私人进入整个湖泊。除了限制湖泊的捕捞活动（即，客户“预订”一个特定的湖和相关的小屋），大部分的Kenauk保护区是在一个捕获和释放框架下管理的（即，鱼被捕获后释放）。然而，Kenauk必须进行昂贵的放养努力，以保持捕捞质量，这意味着有一定程度的释放后捕捞 mortality.有必要对死亡率进行量化，以便为放养做法提供信息，并确定减少捕获和释放死亡率的机会，从而减少对放养的需求。我们将为行业伙伴提供必要的生物学知识，以确保其休闲渔业的长期可行性，使用可辩护的研究方法。该项目将涉及在春季和初秋之间捕获鳟鱼，以了解水温（随季节变化）和鱼类状况（也随季节变化）如何影响捕获和释放结果。鱼将被捕获使用常见的齿轮所使用的客户，包括诱饵（纺纱机/勺子）和苍蝇与倒刺或无倒刺钩。鱼将战斗和处理（包括空气暴露）的不同时间，以反映垂钓者的专业知识的多样性。有关物种、水温、渔具类型、鱼的大小、鱼钩的位置、出血和鱼的活力（用反射损伤评估--这是我实验室首创的一种技术）的细节将被记录下来，鱼将被暂时隔离。 在网栏中标记并保持48小时以评估死亡率。数据将被纳入一个模型，以确定影响死亡率的因素。我们还将确定与垂钓者分享所需的空气暴露的季节性阈值。死亡率估计将为模型提供信息，这些模型将确定需要在多大程度上放养以保持捕捞质量。

Kenauk Nature is a Canadian-owned for-profit company committed to providing clients with unique recreational opportunities including recreational fishing. Kenauk owns and manages some 65,000 acres in Quebec with >70 private lakes. Core to the Kenauk brand is providing clients with a "wilderness" experience - private access to entire lakes in a pristine setting where fish are plentiful. Beyond limiting fishing effort on lakes (i.e., clients "book" a specific lake and associated cottage), much of the Kenauk reserve is managed under a catch-and-release framework (i.e., fish are released after capture). Nonetheless, Kenauk must engage in costly stocking efforts to maintain fishing quality which implies that there is some level of post-release fishing mortality. It is necessary to quantify that mortality to inform stocking practices and to identify opportunities for reducing catch-and-release mortality such that the need for stocking could be reduced. We would generate the necessary biological knowledge for the industry partner to ensure long-term viability of their recreational fisheries using defensible research methods. The project would involve the capture of trout between spring and early fall to understand how water temperature (which changes seasonally) and fish condition (which also changes seasonally) influence catch-and-release outcomes. Fish would be captured using common gear used by clients including lures (spinners/spoons) and flies with either barbed or barbless hooks. Fish would be fought and handled (including air exposure) for various periods of time to reflect a diversity of angler expertise. Details on species, water temperature, gear type, fish size, hook location, bleeding, and fish vitality (assessed with reflex impairment - a technique pioneered by my lab) would be recorded and fish would be temporarily marked and held for 48 hrs in net pens to evaluate mortality rate. Data would be incorporated into a model to identify the factors that influence mortality. We would also identify seasonal thresholds for air exposure which are necessary to share with anglers. The mortality estimate would inform models that will determine the extent to which stocking is needed to maintain fishing quality.