Montana anglers' inability to identify bull trout and other salmonids

The efficacy of fishing regulations relies on anglers knowing and understan ding regulations as well as their ability to identify fish correctly. While the legal harvest of both bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and westslop e cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki lewisi) has been restricted or elimi nated in west central Montana to restore these native populations, anglers unintentionally may be harvesting these trout because of an inability to id entify them. We studied the ability of 681 anglers to identify 6 salmonid s pecies commonly found in west central Montana and found that 44% correctly identified bull trout, and 76% correctly identified westslope cutthroat tro ut. Overall, anglers correctly identified salmonid species 63% of the time but frequently confused related species. Resident and more-experienced angl ers identified salmonid species better than nonresident and less-experience d anglers, respectively. Managers must develop educational measures to give anglers identification skills and help them abide by regulations in order to accomplish management and restoration goals.