Fact-checking policy
Most fact-checking policies describe intentions. This one describes a script. Every factual figure on this site lives in a typed data file that will not compile without a publisher, an HTTPS link, a check date and a calibration grade — and the deployment stops if any check date is more than 180 days old. That applies equally to a bag limit in theriver guide and to an equation behind acalculator.
What has to be true before a number can publish?
Four things, on every single figure. Not on the page, on the figure.
- Source. The full name of the publishing body. Not an abbreviation, not "the DNR", not "studies".
- Source URL. An HTTPS address a reader can open and see the value for themselves.
- Verified on. The date a person last opened that URL and confirmed the figure.
- Calibration. How well the source matches what we are applying it to, graded as measured, regional or generic.
Those four fields are required by the type system, so a data file missing one of them fails to compile. They are then re-checked at build time by a separate script, because a type can be satisfied by an empty string and a script can tell the difference.
What exactly fails the build?
| Condition | Result | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher name missing or vague | Build fails | A name like "various sources" is not something a reader can check. |
| No source URL | Build fails | Every published figure needs a link a reader can open. |
| URL is not HTTPS | Build fails | An insecure link can be tampered with in transit. |
| Check date missing or malformed | Build fails | Without a date the freshness rule cannot be applied. |
| Check date in the future | Build fails | Catches typos that would silently reset the freshness clock. |
| Check date older than 180 days | Build fails | The freshness rule itself. |
| Calibration grade missing | Build fails | A reader needs to know how well the source fits the use. |
| Title outside 50 to 60 characters | Build fails | Enforced at render time in the SEO layer. |
| Description outside 120 to 155 characters | Build fails | Same gate, same layer. |
| Duplicate title or description | Build fails | Two pages competing for the same query is a self-inflicted wound. |
The important property is that none of these are warnings. A warning gets scrolled past. These stop the deployment with an error naming the file and the field, which means the only way to ship a stale figure is to delete the check.
Why 180 days?
Because the figures most likely to hurt someone move on an annual cycle. License prices change with the license year. Bag limits change when a rule revision takes effect. A twelve-month freshness window would let a figure sit unexamined through an entire season and a full rule change.
Half a year means every seasonal figure is examined at least twice before it could otherwise have gone a year without review, and it means the site can never be more than six months behind a rule change it missed. That is a floor, not a target — regulation pages get rechecked when a state announces a change, not when the timer runs out.
What do the calibration grades mean?
A source can be current, real and still a poor fit. The grade says which.
- Measured
- Built from published measurements of this species. The underlying study pooled populations from across North America rather than the Upper Mississippi alone, so individual fish still vary.
- Regional
- Derived from measurements published for nearby waters or the wider species group, so expect a wider spread on the Upper Mississippi.
- Generic
- A widely used textbook default, not fitted to Upper Mississippi fish. Treat the result as a rough estimate only.
Where a page uses several sources of different grades, it shows the weakest one, because that is the one setting the limit on how much you should trust the result. Ourresearch methodology works through how each grade gets assigned.
How do you report something that looks wrong?
Through the contact page, ideally with the page URL and the figure. We check it against the source, not against what we remember writing. If it is wrong we fix it and say what changed; if it is right we write back with the citation. Anything touching a legal obligation gets fixed the day we confirm it, as set out in our editorial policy.
Questions about fact-checking here
What does "last verified" actually mean on your pages?
That a person opened the source URL on that date and confirmed the figure we publish still matches what the source says. It does not mean the page was edited that day, and it does not mean the source was published that day.
What happens after 180 days?
The build fails. A prebuild script walks every data file, and any source whose check date is more than 180 days old stops the deployment with an error naming the file and the field. Nothing publishes until someone rechecks it or the claim is removed.
Why 180 days and not a year?
Because license prices and bag limits change on an annual cycle, and a twelve-month window would let a stale figure sit through a full season. Half that means every seasonal figure gets looked at twice before it can go a year without review.
Do you check figures you copied from another fishing site?
We do not copy figures from other fishing sites. Every number here traces to a primary document — an administrative code chapter, a Corps of Engineers manual, an agency price page or a published paper. If we cannot find the primary document, the claim does not run.