Max Birdsong

• PhD
• Social Scientist at Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council

Wildlife conservation depends on supportive social as well as biophysical conditions. Social identities such as hunter and nonhunter are often associated with different attitudes toward wildlife. However, it is unknown whether dynamics within and among these identity groups explain how attitudes form and why they differ. To investigate how social i...

Understanding the attitudes of recreational anglers towards regulations and other stakeholders is important to inform fisheries management actions. We investigated the relationship of salient angler characteristics, specifically , specialization, catch orientation, place attachment and demographics, and the attitudes and beliefs regarding conservat...

Angler satisfaction is a key consideration in the management of recreational fisheries. Anglers typically prefer high catch rates and large fish, but the importance of these catch outcomes for satisfaction may differ across angler types, target species, and other contextual conditions. We examined the relationships between catch outcomes and satisf...

The size of an ecosystem affects ecological interactions, but less is known about how ecosystem size may affect social interactions. We posit that ecosystem size could serve as a basis for understanding and contextualizing social interactions, connecting how ecosystem size influences natural resource investment decisions and the use of ecosystem se...

Understanding satisfaction is an important aspect of the management of recreational fisheries. We investigated fishing trip satisfaction from data collected via a Danish citizen science platform that allows anglers to report information from their fishing trips through a smartphone application and a webpage. Trip satisfaction was related to a set o...

Participation in hunting has been declining and organizations have increased efforts to recruit non-traditional path hunters (NTPHs) such as adults who did not hunt as children, urban residents, and women. Anecdotal evidence suggests that NTPHs could be interested in hunting if recruiters emphasized certain aspects of the hunting experience such as...

Satisfaction is the reward that recreational anglers receive from their experiences, and it constitutes a relevant management target. Angler satisfaction also shapes preferences for regulations, compliance with rules and general angler behaviours. Because of its central role in recreational fisheries management, it is important to understand what d...