Connecting Anglers and Fisheries Managers to Science

Across North America, anglers who target black bass account for $100 billion of fishing related revenue. As a dedicated cohort of anglers, they share their bass fishing enthusiasm within local and regional bass clubs and on tournament circuits that range from local to international in scale. Although fisheries management agencies allocate a large portion of their efforts toward bass management, there are many topics and issues still under debate: the impacts of tournaments, the long-term effects of stocking programs, the impact of angling for spawning bass, effectiveness of closed seasons/sanctuaries, habitat loss, user group conflicts, animal rights pressures, and more.

Even though their over-all goals for bass management might be similar, anglers, managers, scientists, and the fishing industry often find themselves on opposite sides of a position. As a consequence, there is a tremendous need for education and information sharing among these various stakeholders.

The goal of the North American Black Bass Coalition (NABBC) is to assemble representatives from the scientific, angling, management and business communities to work collaboratively toward overcoming challenges and threats to sustainable bass angling. Our campaign activities include:

• Angling Blog
• Promoting Best Handling Practices
• Symposia and Workshops
• Partners

CONTACT INFORMATION

Campaign Leaders: Mike Allen and Cory Suski
You can contact the NABBC campaign leadership by sending an email to: nabbc@fishconserve.org

Campaign leader Mike Allen often writes articles on Bass and Fisheries Management. Link to some of his available articles here.