Maine's Voluntary Anglers

An estimated 600 anglers report on 35,000 angler trips expended on
more than 400 waters annually. This program solicits sports fish catch
information from anglers who keep diaries of their fishing trips. The data
yield statewide information on the number, size, and species composition of the
catch; catch rates; and the contribution of stocked fish. This program will be
continued indefinitely because it returns high yields for the relatively small
costs that include providing diaries, mailing them to and retrieving them from
anglers, and summarizing data. Participants are now recruited
opportunistically. An organized recruitment methodology would increase the
number of participants. Participants visit a wide distribution of water bodies
and could be solicited to collect other data. Water and date fished; number of
fish caught (legal, sublegal) and kept/released by species; hours fished;
lengths and weights of fish kept; and origin (wild or stocked).

Waterbody or Watershed Names: Lakes and rivers statewide