Southern Lake Michigan Sportfishery: Angler Profiles and Specialization Index for Illinois and Indiana

摘要

The Illinois-Indiana portion of the Lake Michigan shoreline is only 105 miles long, but two factors make this relatively small shoreline area extremely significant. In the area alone, the two states sold approximately 383,000 basic sportfishing licenses in 1983 (Baur and Rogers 1983; Gamble 1983). A priority need for resource managers is better information from anglers about their knowledge of the resource base and fishing opportunities, their preferences for management alternatives, and socioeconomic aspects of their angling behavior. The importance of sportfishing to residents around southern Lake Michigan is underscored by the intense urbanization in the Chicago-Gary area and by the fact that access to the Lake's fisheries has been an enduring concern for the respective state management agencies. The overall project goals were twofold--first, to provide baseline data on the use of the SLM sportfishery and, second, to further refine and test the concept of recreational specialization.