UMass Amherst Depredation Survey

Do you go fishing along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to Maine?  Has a predator taken your fish while fighting it on the end of the line?  A team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst is conducting a survey on depredation – when a predator partially or wholly consumes an angler’s catch before it is landed.  If this is something you’ve experienced, then they need to hear your views on depredation.  Use the link https://bit.ly/3VipGtl to take the survey.

Dr. Andy J. Danylchuk, Professor of Fish Conservation at UMass Amherst, recently reached out regarding a survey his lab is conducting. It is being spearheaded by Evan Prasky, a PhD student. This is a survey of anglers from North Carolina to Maine and is focused on depredation. Andy is a friend of Stripers Forever and is also the Science Advisor at Keep Fish Wet, promoting the use of science-based best practices to catch, handle, and release fish. We are thrilled to help with this important survey by sharing it with you. As a bonus for your participation and help with this research project, you can enter to win a Patagonia Guidewater Backpack (retail value $299).

For those not familiar, depredation is when a predator (shark, seal, etc) takes a fish off the end of an angler’s line before it is landed.  Depredation is a rapidly increasing and controversial topic, and there are important knowledge gaps that are important to fill so that our community can address these issues in an informed way.  With that, this is why our survey is specifically focused on the recreational fishery between North Carolina and Maine, since previous surveys have addressed the issue further south.