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

科诺克自然是一家加拿大拥有的营利性公司，致力于为客户提供独特的娱乐机会，包括休闲钓鱼。科诺克在魁北克拥有并管理着约65,000英亩土地，拥有70个私人湖泊。科诺克品牌的核心是为客户提供一种“荒野”的体验--在鱼类丰富的原始环境中，私人进入整个湖泊。除了限制在湖泊上的捕捞活动(即客户“预订”一个特定的湖泊和相关的小屋)外，克诺克保护区的大部分地区都在“捕即放”的框架下管理(即在捕获后放生)。尽管如此，科诺克必须投入昂贵的放养努力，以保持捕鱼质量，这意味着有一定程度的放生后捕鱼。 死亡率。有必要对死亡率进行量化，以便为放养做法提供信息，并确定降低捕捞和放生死亡率的机会，从而减少对放养的需要。我们将为行业合作伙伴提供必要的生物学知识，以确保其休闲渔业的长期生存能力，使用合理的研究方法。该项目将包括在春季和初秋之间捕获鲑鱼，以了解水温(季节性变化)和鱼类状况(季节性变化)如何影响捕获和释放结果。鱼将使用客户使用的常见渔具捕获，包括诱饵(纺纱器/勺子)和带有倒钩或无倒钩的苍蝇。将在不同的时间段内对鱼进行战斗和处理(包括暴露在空气中)，以反映垂钓者的各种专长。关于鱼种、水温、渔具类型、鱼的大小、鱼钩位置、出血和鱼的活力(由我的实验室首创的反射损伤评估技术)的详细信息将被记录下来，并且鱼将暂时 在网围栏中标记并保持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。我们还将确定暴露在空气中的季节性阈值，这是与垂钓者分享的必要条件。死亡率估计将为模型提供信息，这些模型将确定维持捕捞质量所需的放养程度。

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.