Bass Pro and Costa Offer Incentives for 2015 DNR Volunteer Survey Anglers
Survey participants proudly displaying their Yellow Perch bounty
Costa Sunglasses has joined Bass Pro Shops as key sponsors of the annual DNR Volunteer Angler Survey.
“DNR’s Survey pulls avid anglers and fisheries managers together in the effort to sustain exceptional fishing in Maryland. It’s important for the outdoor sports industry to support this valuable research,” said Costa’s Mike Holliday.
At the end of the year as the surveys wrap up, DNR will draw winners from the anglers who contribute feedback on their fishing activity. There will be at least one winner for each species in the surveys. The prizes include $50 Bass Pro Shops gift cards, Costa hats, Costa lens cleaners, Costa eyeglass retainers and more.
“The angler survey is a vital source of data for fisheries science and management,” said DNR Recreational Fishing Data Coordinator Dr. Linda Barker. “For some species, this is our only source of information on released fish, which is an important part of analyzing fish populations and angler trends.”
To participate, an angler can simply log into the survey and fill in trip information with location, date, hours, number of anglers, method of fishing, and number of fish kept or released.
DNR reminds anglers that reporting an outing where no fish were caught is just as important for studies as sharing days when the fishing was successful.
The survey seeks information on striped bass, summer flounder, yellow perch, bluefish, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, muskellunge, blue crabs, catfish, crappie, bluegill, pickerel, northern snakehead, American shad, hickory shad and Maryland Artificial Reef fishing trips.
DNR recommends the Chesapeake Catch smart phone app as an effective personal fishing log. The program provides anglers a cloud-based fishing record, which they can later transfer to the DNR survey and be entered in the drawing.
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