title: Species-specific preferences of German recreational anglers for freshwater fishing experiences, with emphasis on the intrinsic utilities of fish stocking and wild fishes.
abstract: To answer the question, whether anglers have an intrinsic preference for stocking or a preference for catch outcomes (e.g. catch rates) believed to be maintained by stocking, a discrete choice experiment was conducted among a sample of anglers (n = 1335) in Lower Saxony, Germany. After controlling for catch aspects of the fishing experience, no significant influence of two stocking attributes (stocking frequency and composition of the catch in terms of wild v. hatchery fishes) on the utility gained from fishing was found for any of the freshwater species that were studied. It was concluded that the previously documented large appreciation of fish stocking by anglers may be indicative of an underlying preference for sufficiently high catches rather than reflect an intrinsic preference for stocking or the catching of wild fishes per se.
authors.affiliation: Recreational Fisheries Laboratory, Department of Biology and Ecology of Fishes, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany; Division of Integrative Fisheries Management, Albrecht-Daniel-Thaer Institute of Crop and Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences & Integrative Institute for the Transformation of Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arlinghaus
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beardmore
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Riepe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meyerhoff
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pagel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D005398:Fisheries / Q000379:methods*; D005399:Fishes; D005618:Fresh Water; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011998:Recreation
keywords: brown trout; carp; pike; rainbow trout; stated preference; zander