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Throughout his career, Dr. Henry Regier's science and scholarship includes numerous contributions that cross disciplines and inform policy. This review of examples of his politically-relevant science publications spans six decades. Regier's publications emphasize themes that cross the various boundaries of expert-layperson, state actors-society, public-private, and government-academic sectors. His writings provide several lessons for fishery and aquatic scientists and managers throughout the Great Lakes Basin and beyond: advocate, provoke, network and combine the dualities of idealism and pragmatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of fish pathogens and aquatic invasive species (AIS) is an ongoing challenge in the Great Lakes region. Bait dealers can prevent the spread of fish pathogens and AIS through their business practices and by educating their customers. Little is known, however, about whether and how they fulfill these roles. Licensed bait dealers in the Great Lakes region were surveyed by mail during fall 2013 to assess their awareness and concern about fish pathogens and AIS, actions they took to prevent their spread, and factors influencing these actions. Most bait dealers were aware of AIS and fish pathogens, many were concerned about them, and held beliefs suggesting their desire to take action to prevent their spread. These concerns and beliefs, however, did not always lead to action. We found two factors, not previously examined, that affected the probability of actual behavior. First, we found differences in participation in business practices by whether or not the state/province had regulations pertaining to those business practices. We also found differences by state/province in the degree and type of communication methods used to educate their customers. Second, we found greater economic dependence on bait sales was associated with increased AIS-preventative business actions and communication with customers. If fishery managers want to increase the number of bait dealers taking action to prevent the spread of AIS and fish pathogens, they may wish to promote additional regulations in states and provinces that do not currently have them, or strengthen regulations already in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Accurate estimates of the amount and type of fish people eat are necessary to determine the health benefits and risks of consuming fish, and to assess compliance with fish consumption guidelines issued for fish affected by chemical contaminants. We developed a web‐based and mobile‐phone‐enabled diary methodology to collect detailed fish consumption information for two 16‐week periods in the summers of 2014 and 2015. We recruited study participants from two populations living in the Great Lakes region—women of childbearing age (WCBA) and urban residents who had purchased fishing licenses. In this article, we describe the methodology in detail and provide evidence related to participation rates, the representativeness of our sample over time, and both convergent validity and reliability of the data collection methods. Overall, 56% of WCBA and 50% of urban anglers provided complete data across both data collection periods. Among those who provided information at the beginning of Year 2, 97% of both audiences provided information throughout the entire 16‐week period. Those who participated throughout the two‐year period were slightly older on average (1.9–2.5 years) than other members of our original samples. We conclude that using diaries with web and smartphone technology, combined with incentives and persistent communication, has strong potential for assessing fish consumption in other areas of the country or for situations where the potential risks associated with fish consumption are substantial and the cost can be justified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States in the Great Lakes region of the United States issue fish consumption guidelines for women of childbearing age (WCBA) to help them minimize the health risks to themselves and their potential offspring from eating fish contaminated with chemicals. We used diary methods to study 1395 WCBA who purchased fishing licenses in the Great Lakes coastal region to determine if they were aware of the guidelines and following them. We found that two-thirds of WCBA reported at least minimal awareness of the fish consumption guidelines, and those that reported awareness were more likely to hold beliefs consistent with the messages emphasized in the guidelines. WCBA reported eating less than one meal/week of fish with most of this fish purchased at a store or restaurant. On average, they consumed just 2.4 sport-caught fish meals over the 16-week study period. The average portion size for sport-caught fish meals eaten by WCBA was similar to that assumed by states when determining the guidelines. However, one-quarter of WCBA in the overall sample exceeded the guidelines, with rates as high as 41% exceeding the guidelines in Michigan and Minnesota. Additional outreach efforts may be needed to increase compliance with fish consumption guidelines, particularly among subpopulations that exceed the guidelines more frequently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) is an ongoing challenge in the Great Lakes region. Anglers play a pivotal role in preventing or contributing to the spread of these organisms. Anglers in the Great Lakes region were surveyed by mail during fall 2013 to assess their AIS-related awareness, knowledge, and concern as well as the actions they took to prevent the spread of AIS. Many anglers were aware of AIS, knowledgeable and concerned about them, and taking some actions to prevent their spread. However, certain actions, such as drying and disinfecting or rinsing equipment with hot water, were more difficult and were reported less frequently. Because many anglers already recognize the importance of taking action to prevent the spread of AIS, future outreach efforts may be able to deemphasize communication about the importance of taking action and focus more on strategies that will enable anglers to take these actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish consumption advisories are issued by states, tribes, and federal agencies to provide guidance to consumers about eating sport-caught fish potentially affected by chemical contaminants. Previous work has found that while anglers report being aware that advisories are available, awareness and use of specific advisory recommendations is low. This study uses the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction (IMBP) to identify beliefs with potential to increase intentions to follow fish consumption advisories in Great Lakes states. We conducted a mail survey of 1,712 licensed anglers in seven of eight Great Lakes states (excluding Ohio) to gauge advisory awareness, cognitive factors influencing fish consumption behaviors (informed by the IMBP), and sociodemographic characteristics. Results show that most anglers reported being generally or vaguely aware of fish consumption advisories and try to follow them, but far fewer report being aware of specific advice needed to decide whether or not to consume different types of sport-caught fish. Informed by the IMBP, we also identify several behavioral, normative, and control beliefs that have sufficient room to change, strong associations with intentions to follow the advisories, and potential to be modified if targeted with strategic risk messages. Targeting these beliefs with strategic communication holds potential to increase the proportion of anglers intending to follow fish consumption advisory recommendations in choosing which fish to eat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information format can influence the extent to which target audiences understand and respond to risk-related information. This study examined four elements of risk information presentation format. Using printed materials, we examined target audience perceptions about: (a) reading level; (b) use of diagrams vs. text; (c) commanding versus cajoling tone; and (d) use of qualitative vs. quantitative information presented in a risk ladder. We used the risk communication topic of human health concerns related to eating noncommercial Great Lakes fish affected by chemical contaminants. Results from the comparisons of specific communication formats indicated that multiple formats are required to meet the needs of a significant percent of anglers for three of the four format types examined. Advisory text should be reviewed toensure the reading level is geared to abilities of the target audience. For many audiences, a combination of qualitative and quantitativeinformation, and a combination of diagrams and text may be most effective. For most audiences, a cajoling rather than commanding tone better provides them with the information they need to make a decision about fish consumption. Segmenting audiences regarding information needs and communication formats may help clarify which approaches to take with each audience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Women of childbearing age (WCBA) are advised by state, tribal, and federal agencies to limit their consumption of certain fish, in part, because of concerns about the ingestion of methylmercury and its impact on the development of fetuses. We studied the fish-eating habits of WCBA who had a fishing license and lived near the Great Lakes, where mercury in locally-caught fish is a concern, as these women were likely at greater risk of elevated mercury exposure than the general population. We used a web-based diary method to gather fish consumption data from WCBA anglers over a 4-month period in the summer of 2014. We estimated mercury intake based on reported mercury content of species consumed, frequency of consumption, and meal portion size, and calculated percent exceeding the USEPA reference dose (RfD). Based on these calculations, we estimated that study participants (n = 1395) ingested 0.031 ± 0.002 (95% CI) ug/kg/d of methylmercury (arithmetic mean). We also found that 3.4% of study participants exceeded the RfD when we averaged estimated intake over the 4-month study period. While most (82%) of the fish meals WCBA anglers ate were purchased fish meals generally low in mercury, study participants ingested a disproportionate amount of mercury from locally-caught fish meals (18% of meals contributed 37% of mercury intake). We estimated 11% of WCBA anglers who did not follow state and federal guidelines in effect at the time of our study exceeded the mercury RfD, whereas fewer than 1% of WCBA anglers who followed the guidelines exceeded the RfD. These findings highlight the importance of encouraging WCBA to follow guidelines from agencies for locally-caught fish, in combination with guidelines for purchased fish. Highlights • We estimated mercury intake from fish for Great Lakes WCBA anglers. • Study participants (n = 1395) ingested 0.031 ± 0.002 (95% CI) ug/kg/d of methylmercury. • 3.4% exceeded the RfD when we averaged intake over the 4-month study period. • WCBA anglers ingested a disproportionate amount of mercury from locally-caught fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and many state advisory programs consider urban anglers at high risk of being exposed to contaminants through fish consumption because the urban poor may be dependent on fish they catch for food and lack access to non-contaminated fishing sites. Past research has supported this characterization of urban anglers, but most studies have been site-specific and limited to subsets of urban anglers. We used a mail survey and focus groups to (a) explore how urban anglers living in the Great Lakes region of the United States differed from rural and suburban anglers and (b) characterize their fishing patterns, fish consumption, factors influencing their fish consumption, and response to fish consumption advisory messages. Although we detected some differences between licensed urban, suburban, and rural anglers, their magnitude was not striking. Lower income urban anglers tended to consume less purchased and sport-caught fish than higher income urban anglers and were not at high risk as a group. Nevertheless, focus group data suggested there may be subpopulations of urban anglers, particularly from immigrant populations, that consume higher amounts of potentially contaminated fish. Although urban anglers in general may not require a special approach for communicating fish consumption advice, subpopulations within this group may be best targeted by using community-based programs to communicate fish consumption advice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]