The Atlantic Anglers Challenge is a fishing competition designed to jointly support Covid-19 Relief and recreational angling research by engaging anglers in citizen science. Compete for great prizes! Fish in your community! Fundraise for Covid-19 Relief! Entry is $20. Anglers will sign up to the tournament on Angler’s Atlas website, and then download the MyCatch app to log all catch information. Local updates, promotions, announcements, and other social media will be directed through Jeff Wilson Pro Angler. Data collection picture verifications, category winner judging, and reports will be conducted as a collaboration between Angler’s Atlas and the Striped Bass Research Team and shared with anglers. MyCatch and Angler’s Atlas provide: • Online sign-in process for tournament anglers • MyCatch – the mobile app used to record catches for the tournament • Real-time results of the tournament on their website (submitted photos and leaderboard). • Winners page on their website. PRIZE CATEGORIES Prizes and categories will be added throughout the tournament, e.g. with a new sponsor; thus, prizes may be retroactive. This incentivises anglers to continue fishing and submit all data! Awards will be posted over social media and award ceremonies may happen remotely. To begin, prizes 1–3 will be ‘in the prize pool’. As the tournament progresses and data is submitted or when new sponsors are added, the prize pool will increase. Prizes will be divided in various categories such as provinces, fishing regions (Maritimes and Gulf Regions), and seasons. The ‘overall winner’ will span prize categories and may be based on a combination of most species submitted, most effort (e.g. legitimate fishing trips), and/or the most submissions. Prizes 4–6 are likely the next to enter the pool. You never know when the ‘smallest fish’ category will be added so keep fishing! 1. Most species submitted (total species diversity) 2. Number of fish (total number of fish caught within a season or some designated period) 3. Longest Striped Bass 4. Most entries submitted – big and small fish 5. Most live tracks or fishing trips posted (verified by catching a fish!) 6. Most bodies of water fished SEASONAL Currently the focus is on the Spring, Summer and Fall seasons. Season: Date Range Spring: May – June Summer: July – August Fall: September – October TARGETED FISH SPECIES Prizes are anticipated to be awarded for several target species. However, fisheries researchers are interested in all species because where a species is found, how many, and what species can inform species health or detect new invasive species or the spread of current ones. Therefore, the species diversity prizes will be based on all species, not just those in the prize target list. 1. Striped Bass (Gulf and Maritimes Region separate) 2. Smallmouth Bass 3. Chain pickerel 4. Muskellunge 5. Trout (includes brown, speckled, rainbow) 6. Arctic char 7. Atlantic Salmon 8. Landlocked Salmon 9. Perch (includes white or yellow) PARTICIPATION AWARDS Participation prizes will be at the discretion of the organizing group or through random draws. You will automatically be included in any draw categories. These prizes may be for shortest fish, most small fish, best photo, etc. so submit all photos. ELIGIBILITY a) Everyone is eligible excepting the Atlantic Anglers Challenge Partners and their direct families. b) Initially there will be only one division. Eventually two divisions will be established: Adult Division and Youth Division (under the age of 16). GENERAL RULES AND ETHICS It is the intention of the Atlantic Anglers Challenge to provide an honest, sportsmen tournament. Contestants are reminded that the spirit of the rules will prevail in all judgment cases. a) The Atlantic Anglers Challenge organizers make the rules. Rules can change at any time. b) The Atlantic Anglers Challenge organizers shall administer and enforce the rules. c) The Atlantic Anglers Challenge organizers shall interpret if the rules were violated. d) Unless otherwise noted, failure to abide by the rules will result in disqualification. e) Disqualification from the Atlantic Anglers Challenge also disqualifies the participant from any prizes and forfeits their entry fee. f) All fishing must take place inside NB,PEI,NS,NL Provincial boundaries and respective coastal waters. g) Tournament begins 14 May 2020 or whenever recreational angling is allowed after that date and ends 31 October 2020. h) Only clear pictures will be accepted by judges. i) Only fish caught by the participant may be submitted by the participant and each fish can only be submitted once. Submitting fish caught by someone else, a group, or family member or multiple submissions of the same fish may be considered fraud and reported to RCMP for possible criminal charges. Anglers not abiding by this submission rule will be disqualified. j) Submissions will be verified regularly (e.g. daily). Submissions that are suspected of fraud will trigger an investigation of all submissions by the suspected angler. If any submission is judged as fraudulent, the angler will be disqualified. k) Only Registered Atlantic Anglers Challenge participants may collect prizes. l) In the event of a tie, prizes will be added together and divided equally; The void placings will be eliminated. (e.g. tied for 2nd, 3rd is eliminated, next placing is 4th). m) Tie breakers will be determined as data is gathered. Initially ties will be broken by closest combined distance to home. Regulations a) All anglers much comply with Federal, Provincial, Coast Guard, angling and boating regulations. b) It is the responsibility of the angler to know all the regulations and to obtain all angling licenses and/or related permits. c) No rule for this tournament replaces or supersedes any Federal or Provincial regulation. ANGLER RULES a) Participants must register for the tournament through Angler’s Atlas website, https://www.anglersatlas.com/tournament/446/atlantic-anglers-challenge-2020 and download the MyCatch app which will be used to take pictures and log all submissions. The MyCatch app operates remotely so you do not need to be within mobile range or on wifi to participate. All pictures and fishing trips are stored on your phone until you are back in mobile service or in wifi range. To upload your fishing trips, make sure to open the app when back in range and the catch records will automatically upload to the Angler’s Atlas server. b) Anglers must have GPS enabled on phone for all submissions, as this is important information for biologists. NOTE: location data is kept confidential and never shared publicly so ‘Secret Spots Stay Secret!’. c) Artificial lures and bait are permissible. d) Barbless hooks are recommended and requested. e) Fish may be angled from boat or shore. f) Only photos submitted via the MyCatch app will be accepted. Photos are taken by pressing the Catch button on the app. g) Prize categories include those requiring length measurements and those that do not (e.g. for diversity prizes). Prizes requiring lengths must have a verifiable measurement in the photo, otherwise any provided length will be unverified and only count towards diversity prizes. Fish health is priority so do not measure a fish if this puts a fish in jeopardy of decreasing its health. h) All fish measurements will be verified by officials. Where a length cannot be verified, the fish will count towards diversity prizes only. i) After catching a fish that will be used for a submission, participants use the app to submit a digital photo, in focus, that clearly shows the fish and features listed below. One fish per photo. Attempts to hide or obscure features necessary for a prize category will discard that submission from that prize category (i.e. it will not count, but the record will remain in the fishing log). --- Prizes not requiring length measurements (diversity prizes) --- I) Clear photo showing the species identification features (i.e. Can the species be identified?). II) A fish that is healthy (e.g. clear eyes, red gills) and clear of debris (e.g. no muddy fish). III) Other information on the fish may be used for prizes such as whether it is tagged and the tag number, or an unverified length measurement. Therefore, provide any other information. --- Prizes requiring length measurements --- I) Total Length from the tip of the nose to the end of the pinched tail. II) Tape measure or measuring board within the photo with all numbers clearly visible and legible for the entire Total Length. Tape measure or board must be laid flat (i.e. not across the body of the fish). III) A fish that is healthy (e.g. clear eyes, red gills) and clear of debris (e.g. no muddy photos). IV) Other information on the fish may be used for prizes such as whether it is tagged and the tag number, or an unverified length measurement. Therefore, provide any other information. j) Submissions are unlimited, submit as many different catch photos as you like! k) All fish sizes are important – small to large – and may count towards prizes. Relative size class data is important to fish biologist so take photos of all even if the fish is not measured! As well, unverified fish measurements are very useful. They do not count towards length prizes, but could count towards other prizes! DATA a) All fishing location data is protected. Secret fishing spots stay secret! b) Catch images and participant names will be posted on the tournaments page. c) Fishing data will be shared anonymously and confidentially with the Striped Bass Research Team to provide feedback and reporting on the Atlantic Angler Cup and contribute data to peer-reviewed science. Catch location data may be amalgamated on a per lake, river, region, or watershed basis to allow accurate analyses.