9395

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 9395
• Author: Vaske, J. J., M. P. Donnelly and M. Lyon.
• Title: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Attitudes Toward the Endangered Fish of the Upper Colorado River Basin.
• USFW Year: 1995.
• USFW - Doc Type: 20,
• Copyright Material: NO

Endangered Fish Survey

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· Only between a quarter and a third of all respondents held negative stereotypes about endangered
fish, Nearly as many, however, were neutral on these stereotype belief statements,

· Among the reasons for recovering the fish, 81 % believed that recovering the endangered fish is as
important as recovering endangered birds and mamrnals, and nearly three-quarters felt that
endangered fish helped to maintain balance in nature (73%) and should be recovered whenever
possible (72%), Because the squawfish once grew to 6 feet long and weighed up to 80 pounds or
because the endangered fish could become sportfish were not judged to be good reasons for
recovering the fish. Neither the cost associated with the recovery effort nor the potential impacts on
economic development were seen as reasons for not recovering the fish, Taken together, these
findings highlight the types of messages that should be included (or not included) in educational
efforts,

· The majority (5~1o) of all respondents held a positive attitude toward saving the four endangered
fish. with the strongest support coming from the environmental group members, These findings
again suggest that many people are supportive of the recovery effort,

· Over three-quarters of those interviewed had not heard of the recovery program, The elected
officials were most aware of the recovery effort (42%), while the general public was least aware
(12%), These results reinforce previous findings noting the importance of increasing general
awareness of the recovery program and suggest specific groups that should be targeted,

· Among those who had heard of the program (23%), most were able to correctly identify the specific
components of the recovery effort when presented with a list of true-false type statements. This
suggests that for those who are aware of the effort, most understand what the program is attempting
to achieve,

· Two-thirds of the respondents supported the effort to recover the endangered fish, This finding again
suggests the majority of people may hold views different from the few who voice opposition to the
effort,

· Only a third had heard of the issues surrounding the stocking of non-native sportfish as it relates to
endangered fish, Three-quarters, however, believed that stocking of non-native sportfish should only
be done if it does not harm the endangered fish, Respondents were divided in tenns of their attitude
toward stocking non-native sportfish, About a third each were either positive (35%) or neutral
(37%), In general, once the interviewer.informed the respondent about the stocking issues, nearly
half (49%) opposed the stocking of non-native sportfish in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The
strongest opposition came from the environmental group members (70%), Specific to the topic of
stocking two species (mosquito fish and grass carp) that are used to control insects and
weeds, over half (54%) approved of the practice. Taken together, these findings support
efforts to better inform the public on the relationship between the stocking of non-native sportfish
and the potential impacts on endangered fish,

· A predictive model was developed to highlight the interrelationships among the variables, The
findings gener3Jly supported the value ~ attitude ~ behavior causal sequence of events predicted
by the model. From a managerial perspective, the model's findings illustrate that beliefs about the
recovery program have no influence on the publics' attitudes or support for endangered fish
recovery, This suggests that promotional efforts should highlight the endangered status of the fish
and not concentrate on what agencies are doing to protect the fish,