CreelCat: Angler Survey Database

The term "angler" refers to a person who uses fishing rods with lines and hooks to catch fish as a hobby. Anglers are a type of fisherman, a broader term describing any person catching fish regardless of method or purpose.

Angler or creel surveys collect data on how people participating in recreational fishing interact with bodies of water; their fishing preferences for location, fish species, and fishing techniques; and harvest metrics and species composition. These surveys include physical surveys, interviews, and information from participating locals.

Local wildlife agencies and park managers can use the surveys to get a sense of the fish species and the fishing techniques anglers in that area prefer, which can help monitor fish biodiversity in the local waterways.

Lynch et al., 2021 - The U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat): Development, applications, and opportunities

(DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10671 )

Inland recreational fishing, defined as primarily leisure-driven fishing in freshwaters, is a popular pastime in the USA. State natural resource agencies endeavor to provide high-quality and sustainable fishing opportunities for anglers. Managers often use creel and other angler survey data to inform state- and waterbody-level management efforts. Despite the broad implementation of angler surveys and their importance to fisheries management at state scales, regional and national coordination among these activities is minimal. Management of fish living in rivers, lakes, and other waterbodies crossing state boundaries may benefit from collaborative, large-scale management practices and research. Here, we introduce the U.S. Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat), a first-of-its-kind, publicly available national database of angler survey data that establishes a baseline of national inland recreational fishing metrics. We highlight research and management applications to help support sustainable inland recreational fishing practices and present science to inform management implementation for implementation.

Nicholas Sievert et al., 2023 - CreelCat, a Catalog of United States Inland Creel and Angler Survey Data

(DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02523-2  )

The United States Inland Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (CreelCat) contains a national compilation of angler and creel survey data collected by natural resource management agencies across the United States (including Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico). These surveys are used to help inform the management of recreational fisheries, by collecting information about anglers including what they are catching and harvesting, the amount of effort they expend, their angling preferences, and demographic information.

As of May 1, 2023, CreelCat houses over 14,729 surveys from 33 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., comprising 235 data fields across 8 tables. These tables contain 235,015 records of fish catch and harvest metrics, 27,250 angler preference metrics, 14,729 records of survey characteristics, 13,576 records of effort metrics, and 409 records of angler demographics. Though individual creel surveys are often deployed to meet local science and management objectives, creel data aggregated across jurisdictions has the potential to address larger scale research and management needs.

Robertson et al., 2023 - Estimating lentic recreational fisheries catch and effort across the United States

(DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12650 )

Our study developed a statistical approach to combine survey data with different methods and assess the relationship between daily catch and effort of recreational fishers. We applied this approach to CreelCat data on ponds and lakes and found that the relationship between recreational fisheries catch and effort was not straightforward. We found that as fishing effort increased, the number of fish caught per hour of fishing effort decreased.

Furthermore, we identified that fishing effort varied across regions and was affected by the size of the waterbody where fishing occurred, the average age of people in surrounding counties, and the distance from the waterbody to main roads. This new statistical approach has several practical applications. It could be used to inform recreational fisheries management in regions that have limited data. Additionally by taking into account socio-economic and ecological factors that influence fishing effort, this approach could improve our understanding about how local and regional recreational fisheries will change in response to climate change. 

Kaz et al., 2024 - U.S. Inland Creel Programs: A Regional Comparison and Best Practices

(DOI: In development)

In United States (U.S.) inland waters, recreational fishers (anglers), rather than commercial fishers, account for a primary source of fishing pressure. As such, the recreational sector can be a substantial driver of fishing mortality, requiring well-informed management for the sustained viability of inland recreational fisheries. In this project, we review creel data from over 35 states and territories in the U.S. Creel and Angler Survey Catalog (‘CreelCat’) to 1) provide a regional comparison of U.S. inland creel programs, 2) discuss important limitations and biases of the dataset, and 3) identify best practices for future creel data collection to increase broad-scale comparability, validity, and utility of data. This review marks an initial step towards characterizing available inland fishery data, thus making it possible to identify national or regional data needs. Ultimately, more cohesive, accessible data enables the capacity to monitor trends within U.S. inland recreational fisheries on larger scales and extrapolate to broader ecological and social shifts.  

Robertson et al., 2024 - Inland recreational fisheries in the United States catch an order of magnitude more than reported to the UN 

(DOI: In development)

Recreational fisheries are important global contributors to food security, socio-cultural practices, and local and regional economies. However, inland recreational fisheries are often overlooked by policymakers due to a limited understanding of the magnitude of their effort, catch, and harvest. Here, we used the US Inland Creel and Fisher Survey Catalog (CreelCat) and catch and effort model (CreelCatch) to estimate the magnitude of total inland recreational fisheries effort and catch in the conterminous US. The CreelCatch model projected fishing effort and catch across all lakes, ponds, and reservoirs based on drivers of fishing effort, waterbody area, and regional random effects. We estimated that lentic recreational fisheries in the conterminous US likely catch 400,000 – 1.13 million tonnes of fish per year, 30 – 80 times greater than inland commercial fisheries. Inland recreational fisheries warrant greater consideration for their contribution to national scale socio-economics and impacts on fish stocks and ecosystems. 

Wszola et al., 2024 - Lake  temperature and morphometry shape the thermal composition of recreational fishing catch

(DOI: In development)

Managing freshwater fisheries in warming lakes is challenging because climate change impacts anglers, fish, and their interactions. Inland lakes are rapidly warming, creating novel coolwater management challenges and emerging warmwater opportunities. Warmwater fishing opportunities are likely to increase as the climate warms, but larger, deeper lakes will likely provide thermal refuges for coolwater fish and the anglers who pursue them. We integrated recent models of current and future lake temperatures with recreational fisheries catch data from 587 lakes in three north -central U.S. states (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) to evaluate how the thermal composition of recreational fisheries catch varied as a function of temperature, ice coverage, and lake morphometry. We found that warmwater catch share (WCS), the proportion of fish in recreational angling catch that belonged to the warmwater thermal guild (final temperature preferendum [FTP] > 25℃), increased with average annual lake surface temperature and decreased with survey ice coverage. However, we also found that WCS decreased with increased lake area and depth. Using mid-century (2040 – 2060) water temperature and ice projections while holding all other variables constant, we predicted that WCS will likely increase as the climate warms, but that significant thermal heterogeneity will persist. Large (> 100 ha), deep (> 10 m) lakes and those with cooler (<3700 annual growing degree days) predicted future temperatures will likely hold thermal refugia for coolwater (FTP 19 – 25℃) and coldwater (FTP < 19 ℃) fish even as average lake temperatures rise, creating the potential for management actions to resist the shift from coolwater to warmwater fisheries.  Managers of smaller and more rapidly warming lakes may want to consider strategies that accept or direct emerging warmwater fishing opportunities. We suggest that the most viable path to climate adaptation in landscapes of diverse lakes may be to resist warmwater shifts where possible and accept or direct the rise of warmwater fishing opportunities where necessary.

The Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) partner with natural and cultural resource managers to provide the scientific information needed to help fish, wildlife, ecosystems, and the communities they support adapt to the impacts of a changing climate. Our network is comprised of nine Regional CASCs, managed by the National CASC located at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) headquarters in Reston, VA. 

Learn more about USGS CASC  here. 

Contact us: casc@usgs.gov

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