A Case Study of the Community Fishing Program in North Carolina

Authors: Russell Wong and Christian Waters

The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission initiated its Community Fishing Program (CFP) in 1989 with a pilot site at Oka T. Hester Park in Greensboro.  In just over a decade, the CFP has expanded to 44 bodies of water covering 1,397 acres across North Carolina.  The CFP is a cost-share program, in which the Commission provides 75% of the operational funds and local cooperators provide 25% of the funds in addition to the fishing site. Typically, CFP sites are intensively managed by stocking catchable-sized channel catfish (200-300 mm), installing fish feeders, and improving fishing access by constructing handicapped-accessible fishing piers and clearing shorelines for bank fishing.  A modified creel survey of anglers using six CFP sites in the summers of 1999 and 2000 elicited information to profile typical CFP anglers and to evaluate the effects of reducing stocking rates on fishing trip length and catch.  A total of 1064 interviews were conducted.  CFP anglers typically targeted channel catfish (61%) with 80% of those anglers planned to harvest a portion of their catch.  Sixty seven percent of the anglers were between the age of 16 and 55, and 86% resided in the same county as the CFP site.  Of the anglers age 16 or older, 45% did not possess a N.C. fishing license, and of those anglers, 87% were fishing without a license through the in-county, natural-bait exemption provision in North Carolina. Fifty nine percent of anglers reported fishing the CFP site at least once; however, only 17% of the anglers were aware of the actual program. The survey indicated no significant reduction in angler catch per unit effort (CPUE) (p=0.38) or angler trip length (p=0.12) between CFP sites receiving half stocking rates versus full stocking rates.