Theses and Dissertations Collection

Fishing regulations are used by natural resource agencies to accomplish a variety of management objectives, including a focus on improving the quality of a fishery or maintaining the viability of a population. Catch-and-release regulations have largely been successful in reducing exploitation and increasing density and size structure of fish populations. In recent years, concerns have been raised regarding anglers exposing fish to air during catch-and-release angling. This thesis quantified how long anglers expose fish to air during catch-and-release angling, evaluated the effects of air exposure on the survival of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout, Bull Trout, and Rainbow Trout, and evaluated the effect of air exposure on the fitness of Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. Results of this study suggest that anglers typically do not expose fish to air long enough during catch-and-release angling to incur the negative effects associated with prolonged air exposure. Additionally, evaluation of the effects of air exposure on survival and fitness indicated that air exposure has no effect at up to 60 s of air exposure.