Socio-ecological Studies of Inland Recreational Rainbow Trout Fisheries Facing Anthropogenic Stressors: Implications for Fisheries Management and Policy Development

This thesis takes a trans-disciplinary approach to studying the management of the socio-economically valuable, socio-ecological system that is the recreational B.C. rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fishery. Chapters are presented under a novel framework to studying the management of socio-ecological systems in a changing world, and is organized under three pillars: A) Identifying the capacity for aquatic ecosystems and ecosystem users to overcome climate change induced stressors (bottom-up conservation management) and providing solutions to encourage and facilitate bottom-up conservation management, B) Determining the capacity for current government-mandated management strategies and policies at protecting aquatic Canadian species, as well as providing solutions to foster the betterment of top-down conservation management of socio-economically valuable aquatic species, and C) Providing strategies and avenues forward that can facilitate the incorporation of findings from pillars A and B into the management of socio-economically valuable aquatic species. Chapters two and three (pillar A) provide evidence that steelhead are more susceptible to the negative effects of multiple angling events under predicted water temperatures, and that recreational anglers are likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviours whilst fishing (offsetting ecological impacts of angling), especially if they hold high environmental threat perceptions because of targeted species or chosen fishing locations. Chapters four and five (pillar B) provide evidence that current management strategies in place to protect steelhead in B.C. at both the provincial and federal level have significant limitations inhibiting the successful management of this species, and can be significantly improved. Overlaps in jurisdictional management and faults in imperilled species legislation in Canada should be addressed and improved to allow for the conservation of Pacific salmonid species. Chapters six and seven (pillar C) share initiatives and best practices for incorporating scientific evidence into and improving conservation management. Chapter six highlights the importance of both individual and collective actions, cross-scale collaborations, and adaptive management in successful environmental management. Chapter seven echoes the need for collaboration and suggests facilitating communication between decision-makers and knowledge generators to ensure the proper management and delivery of scientific findings, and credibility behind scientific findings when incorporating environmental scientific evidence into management decision-making.