Mark recapture is a standard tool used for a variety of tasks. I'm not familiar with the sqawfish program, but it could be used for anything from population size/trends to growth rates. Obviously it would be difficult to know if the reward program is really working without some basic information. I doubt taxpayers want tax money being wasted on programs that aren't meeting their goals and objectives. I know, this particular program isn't taxpayuer funded, but if you use electricity you're paying for it.