Recreational fishing is an important activity primarily enjoyed for the purposes of pleasure or competition. Despite the many benefits of interacting with nature and harvesting wild food, recreational fishing presents a myriad of negative impacts to fish populations, thus requiring management interventions to ensure sustainability. Since management conservation measures typically involve angler compliance with regulations and voluntary adoption of proconservation behaviours, I analyzed social data from two fisheries facing contrasting conservation challenges to identify the prevalence of selfreported proconservation behaviours among recreational anglers. I further investigated the factors which influence such behaviours in an effort to dissect how certain desired behaviours may be encouraged to support management conservation goals and to contribute to knowledge surrounding angler behaviour. My results indicate high levels of participation in voluntary proconservation behaviours and may inform management strategies that would benefit from angler participation.iii
AcknowledgementsFirst and foremost I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Dr. Vivian M.Nguyen for being my stepping stone into the world of research, for the endless support she has given me, and for her dedication to my success, I do not wish to know where I would be without her. Jill Brooks and Dr. Jacqueline Chapman also reserve a special place in my life as wonderful mentors through my first venture into research, and whom I still go to for career advice. I am grateful to my committee members, Dr. Steven J.Cooke, Dr. Nathan Young, and Dr. Robert J. Lennox for their guidance and input throughout these two years. I would like to individually thank Dr. Robert J. Lennox for his immense support, expertise in R, and for teaching me field techniques as well as hosting me in Norway. I would also like to acknowledge all co-authors for their past, current, and future assistance in developing Chapters 2 and 3. A big thank you as well to all the recreational anglers who endured my endless emails and participated in both questionnaires. Finally, I would like to thank my loved ones; my parents, J.P. and Rachel, my siblings, Taylor, Matthew, and Mackenzie, my grandparents, Cynthia and Phillip, my best friends Alexis and Sarah, and my other half, Cameron, for always encouraging me to be my best and supporting me throughout the years.
Thesis Format and ContributionsThis thesis includes a general introduction (Chapter 1), two co-authored manuscripts (Chapter 2 and 3) that are in preparation for submission to peer-reviewed journals, and a general discussion (Chapter 4). Most co-authors have provided guidance and suggestions to improve my work, and all co-authors will review each manuscript following the submission of this thesis. To account for the co-authors contributions, I use the pronoun "we" in Chapters 2 and 3. Contributions from co-authors are described below:Chapter 2: Widespread dislike of pink salmon leads to calls for management among salmonid-targeting r...