Recreational Perspectives of Nonnative Fish Species and Mercury Advisors

The purpose of this study is to assess the awareness and values of anglers, concerning their catch of native and nonnative fish species and posted mercury advisories.  A semi-structured interactive survey with 500 Everglades canal anglers will reveal how awareness of these topics correlates with attitudes towards water quality improvement and native biodiversity conservation.  Largemouth Bass, a native species, is a highly targeted recreational fish and may be correlated with attitudes towards native species conservation.  Largemouth bass is also the primary fish species that has consistently shown to exceed contamination levels of 1 part per million of mercury, the recommended limit, by up to seven times fold in the surveyed canal. Mercury advisories have been implemented in Florida for decades. I expect that awareness is low, but that anglers prefer native species and lower mercury levels after being briefed on the topics. Mercury levels in fish are also increasing globally and are a health safety issue for many countries.

This poster will show preliminary results from the current 90+ surveys completed so far.

Related Materials and Graphics: 

Chris_Edwards_GEER_2012.pdf