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I was looking for something else when I stumbled upon this forum post:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/how-do-we-increase-inat-fish-observations/2912/18
I didn't start using this site that long ago, but when I did there were less than 200k research grade fish observations in North America. Now, there are about 535k...which all things considered, is still not that many.
If you are an angler and you are also tentative to upload fishing catches, remember:
1) you can obscure your location by either keeping coordinates private or creating a wide accuracy range
2) you don't have to post trophies or limits, therefore you shouldn't be worried about burning spots
and
3) there is a decent chance that info on waterbody or location quality is online (i.e., fishery surveys, online videos / forums, social media posts, fish stocking databases, creel surveys) thus there's likely little harm in posting fishing photos from your favorite lake on this site.
Just my two cents, and how I've been operating on here since I've started.
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Request from a follower... I love to see the area where the fish was caught in the background behind the fish. Many inat pictures of fish species are taken looking straight down at the fish with the ground in the background. INat users are often "generalists" like me. I'm deeply interested in fishing but also interested in all the other species living in the area around where I caught the fish. Showing a bit of the environment behind the fish tells the story of where the species exists and why. I also think it helps draw people into the hobby by letting them imagine what it's like to be out there in that environment while pursuing and learning about the species.
I feel like the background adds something meaningful to this image...
Good stuff and I agree, most people’s “secret spots” probably are featured in YouTube videos or whatever already. If not, obscuring is plenty good nearly always to keep things as secret as they’ll ever be. One thing I do recommend people consider caution for spawning aggregations of rare fish. I witnessed a large group of spawning Blue Suckers last spring but haven’t made an observation as they were definitely in a vulnerable location and obscuring just so happened to do nothing helpful in that location but that’s a rare exception
The comment about backgrounds is interesting and I’ll keep that in mind. However I often find seeing the ground at the water’s edge more interesting. That gives you a peak at the geology which tells you as much about the habitat and some times more than the background. Definitely some good thoughts.
@stockslager Good point! I think I can give this a shot with some of the smaller fishes I encounter. I'll experiment this summer, because I definitely need to step up my photo game.
@schollmeier Also a good point regarding rarer or protected fishes. The "water's edge photo" is usually the most efficient for getting fish back in the water too so it tends to be my default for medium to large fish. I've never though of the geology or river morphology component from habitat, but that's something I'll also try to keep in mind with future photos.
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