Climate change impacts on fishing trip preferences and expenditures in the Intermountain West

Abstract Objective Angling is a significant economic driver for many rural communities in the Intermountain West. Angling also faces significant challenges from climate change in coming decades. In this study, we sought to discover angler preferences toward a fishing trip with respect to trip aspects that may be threatened by climate change. We further sought to match these preferences with economic impacts based on reported expenditures from these anglers. Methods We conducted a discrete choice experiment with anglers who fished in the Snake River headwaters of Wyoming. Survey data were analyzed using multinomial logit and latent class random utility models. The results of the latent class analysis were used in a simulation to project how expenditures and the number of trips will change if climate change impacts aspects of a fishing trip. Results Through the latent class analysis, two classes of anglers were identified. These classes had heterogeneous preferences toward angling trip characteristics and had differing trip expenditures. The analysis indicated that wildfire smoke and angler crowding were most likely to cause the first group of anglers not to take a trip, whereas the second group of anglers were less responsive to changes in angling conditions. We predicted that relative to the second group, the first group would take fewer visits and reduce expenditures by more in response to changes in conditions that are important to them. Conclusions Based on our results, angler preferences to avoid crowds and wildfire smoke had the largest impact on the number of trips taken and subsequent expenditures. These aspects are not directly related to the act of fishing (noncatch). This provides insight for fishery managers and additional information for management decisions.