Researchers are trying to figure out why fewer people are fishing the Great Lakes. (Photo by Lester Graham)
A national survey of anglers is trying to determine why
fewer people are fishing the Great Lakes. Peter Payette
reports:
Transcript
A national survey of anglers is trying to determine why
fewer people are fishing the Great Lakes. Peter Payette
reports:
The Great Lakes have seen a steep decline in sport fishing
in recent years. But Rob Southwick says there’s little or
no research to explain why.
His firm, Southwick Associates, conducts a national
survey every month on recreational fishing. In December
they asked anglers about the Great Lakes.
Southwick says despite advisories about contamination in
fish in the lakes, less than one percent of those surveyed
mentioned health warnings as the problem.
We think that was a major issue in the late eighties and
early nineties but people are not telling us that is a reason
why they are staying away from the Great Lakes anymore.
Southwick says people are finding other lakes and streams
to fish, even though no one is complaining about the
quality of fishing on the big lakes.
But he thinks the time and gear needed to fish in the deep
wide waters of the Great Lakes are part of the problem.
For the Environment Report, I’m Peter Payette.