Network analysis of a regional fishery: Implications for management of natural resources, and recruitment and retention of anglers

Angler groups and water-body types interact to create a complex social-ecological system. Network analysis could inform detailed mechanistic models on, and provide managers better information about, basic patterns of fishing activity. Differences in behavior and reservoir selection among angler groups in a regional fishery, the Salt Valley fishery in southeastern Nebraska, USA, were assessed using a combination of cluster and network analyses. The four angler groups assessed ranged from less active, unskilled anglers (group One) to highly active, very skilled anglers (group Four). Reservoir use patterns and the resulting network communities of these four angler groups differed; the number of reservoir communities for these groups ranged from two to three and appeared to be driven by reservoir location (group One), reservoir size and its associated attributes (groups Two and Four), or an interaction between reservoir size and location (group Three). Network analysis is a useful tool to describe differences in participation among angler groups within a regional fishery, and provides new insights about possible recruitment of anglers. For example, group One anglers fished reservoirs closer to home and had a greater probability of dropping out if local reservoir access were restricted.