LE3 .A278 2022

2022

Avery, Trevor

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Biology

Biology

The Atlantic Anglers Challenge occurred throughout the Atlantic provinces from 14 May 2020 to 01 November 2020 as a substitution for competitive, in-person fishing tournaments cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The tournament was held entirely virtually using the Angler’s Atlas website and mobile application MyCatch, allowing recreational anglers to upload their catches to provide information for scientific research. Participant entries logged with Angler’s Atlas and MyCatch included a photo, species identifications, fish total length and angling location. Specific location data was confidential and never revealed; only generalized location data was provided to researchers for analyses. Challenges used as incentives for data targeting were applied over the entire tournament and through mini challenges for more specific data targets. Eligibility, challenges, and continuous engagement throughout the challenge were used as incentives to minimize biases in fishing data being collected. Throughout the tournament participants logged over 2440 fish entries with single anglers reporting up to 37 species from 56 different waterbodies. Species data from the challenge were compared to distribution data from Fish base, revealing species absent from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in Fish base were present. Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) were found present in New Brunswick, despite Department of Fisheries and Oceans reports of the species not being present in the province. Total length data trends between species were compared between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Results showed using a virtual fishing tournament compiled important fisheries data through citizen science and using challenges as incentives enabled focused data collections. Results proved information anglers had been claiming regarding species sightings were true.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3794