Explaining participation rates in recreational fishing across industrialised countries

On average, 10.52% of the total population was found to fish for recreation across the industrialised world (N = 27 countries), amounting to an estimated 118 million (95% confidence interval 81–154 million) people in North America, Europe and Oceania. Participation rates declined with population density and gross domestic product, indicating a negative effect of urbanisation and post-modernisation on fishing interest. Participation rates also declined with increasing median age, average household size and unemployment rate, suggesting resource limitation to constrain participation in fishing. By contrast, two indicators of the cultural importance of fish (fish landings and per capita fish consumption) and an indicator of perceived need for leisure (weekly working hours) were positively correlated with fishing participation. Based on these findings, which explained 60% of the variance in fishing participation across the industrialised world, reduced fishing interest is to be expected with post-industrialisation. Dedicated management and marketing intervention is needed to reverse the track of diminishing fishing interest in industrialised countries

The future of recreational fisheries: Advances in science, monitoring, management, and practice

Recreational fisheries (RF) are complex social-ecological systems that play an important role in aquatic environments while generating significant social and economic benefits around the world. The nature of RF is diverse and rapidly evolving, including the participants, their priorities and behaviors, and the related ecological impacts and social and economic benefits. RF can lead to negative ecological impacts, particularly through overexploitation of fish populations and spread of non-native species and genotypes through stocking. Hence, careful management and monitoring of RF is essential to sustain these ecologically and socioeconomically important resources. This special issue on recreational fisheries contains diverse research, syntheses, and perspectives that highlight the advances being made in RF research, monitoring, management, and practice, which we summarize here. Co-management actions are rising, often involving diverse interest groups including government and non-government organizations; applying collaborative management practices can help balance social and economic benefits with conservation targets. Technological and methodological advances are improving the ability to monitor biological, social, and economic dynamics of RF, which underpin the ability to maximize RF benefits through management actions. To ensure RF sustainability, much research focuses on the ecological aspects of RF, as well as the development of management and angling practices that reduce negative impacts on fish populations. For example, angler behavior can be influenced to conform to conservation-minded angling practices through regulations, but is often best accomplished through growing bottom-up social change movements. Anglers can also play an important role in fisheries monitoring and conservation, including providing data on fish abundance and assemblages (i.e., citizen science). The increasing impacts that growing human populations are having on the global environment are threatening many of the natural resources and ecosystem services they provide, including valuable RF. However, with careful development of research initiatives, monitoring and management, sustainable RF can generate positive outcomes for both society and natural ecosystems and help solve allocation conflicts with commercial fisheries and conservation

The future of recreational fisheries: Advances in science, monitoring, management, and practice

Recreational fisheries (RF) are complex social-ecological systems that play an important role in aquatic environments while generating significant social and economic benefits around the world. The nature of RF is diverse and rapidly evolving, including the participants, their priorities and behaviors, and the related ecological impacts and social and economic benefits. RF can lead to negative ecological impacts, particularly through overexploitation of fish populations and spread of non-native species and genotypes through stocking. Hence, careful management and monitoring of RF is essential to sustain these ecologically and socioeconomically important resources. This special issue on recreational fisheries contains diverse research, syntheses, and perspectives that highlight the advances being made in RF research, monitoring, management, and practice, which we summarize here. Co-management actions are rising, often involving diverse interest groups including government and non-government organizations; applying collaborative management practices can help balance social and economic benefits with conservation targets. Technological and methodological advances are improving the ability to monitor biological, social, and economic dynamics of RF, which underpin the ability to maximize RF benefits through management actions. To ensure RF sustainability, much research focuses on the ecological aspects of RF, as well as the development of management and angling practices that reduce negative impacts on fish populations. For example, angler behavior can be influenced to conform to conservation-minded angling practices through regulations, but is often best accomplished through growing bottom-up social change movements. Anglers can also play an important role in fisheries monitoring and conservation, including providing data on fish abundance and assemblages (i.e., citizen science). The increasing impacts that growing human populations are having on the global environment are threatening many of the natural resources and ecosystem services they provide, including valuable RF. However, with careful development of research initiatives, monitoring and management, sustainable RF can generate positive outcomes for both society and natural ecosystems and help solve allocation conflicts with commercial fisheries and conservation

The evolutionary legacy of size-selective harvesting extends from genes to populations

Size-selective harvesting is assumed to alter life histories of exploited fish populations, thereby negatively affecting population productivity, recovery, and yield. However, demonstrating that fisheries-induced phenotypic changes in the wild are at least partly genetically determined has proved notoriously difficult. Moreover, the population-level consequences of fisheries-induced evolution are still being controversially discussed. Using an experimental approach, we found that five generations of size-selective harvesting altered the life histories and behavior, but not the metabolic rate, of wild-origin zebrafish (Danio rerio). Fish adapted to high positively size selective fishing pressure invested more in reproduction, reached a smaller adult body size, and were less explorative and bold. Phenotypic changes seemed subtle but were accompanied by genetic changes in functional loci. Thus, our results provided unambiguous evidence for rapid, harvest-induced phenotypic and evolutionary change when harvesting is intensive and size selective. According to a life-history model, the observed life-history changes elevated population growth rate in harvested conditions, but slowed population recovery under a simulated moratorium. Hence, the evolutionary legacy of size-selective harvesting includes populations that are productive under exploited conditions, but selectively disadvantaged to cope with natural selection pressures that often favor large body size.Peer reviewe

Socio-economic drivers of specialist anglers targeting the non-native European catfish (Silurus glanis) in the UK.

Information about the socioeconomic drivers of Silurus glanis anglers in the UK were collected using questionnaires from a cross section of mixed cyprinid fisheries to elucidate human dimensions in angling and non-native fisheries management. Respondents were predominantly male (95%), 30-40 years of age with £500 per annum. The proportion of time spent angling for S. glanis was significantly related to angler motivations; fish size, challenge in catch, tranquil natural surroundings, escape from daily stress and to be alone were considered important drivers of increased time spent angling. Overall, poor awareness of: the risks and adverse ecological impacts associated with introduced S. glanis, non-native fisheries legislation, problems in use of unlimited ground bait and high fish stocking rates in angling lakes were evident, possibly related to inadequate training and information provided by angling organisations to anglers, as many stated that they were insufficiently informed

Influences of angler subsidies on the trophic ecology of European barbel Barbus barbus

European barbel Barbus barbus is a recreationally important riverine fish that is widely introduced outside of its natural range. Contemporary angling practices for B. barbus involve the use of baits based on marine fishmeal (MF). MF is isotopically distinct from freshwater prey via highly enriched δ13C and thus its dietary influence on B. barbus can be tested via differences in fractionation factors (Δ13C). Correspondingly, stable isotope data from 11 riverine B. barbus populations tested how their trophic ecology varied across populations according to MF from angling. Δ13C of fish with macroinvertebrate prey resources varied within and between populations (range 0.90 to 10.13 ‰) and indicated that, within populations, up to 71 % of B. barbus had relatively high dietary contributions of MF. These contributions were significantly and positively related to fish length, with MF influences increasingly apparent as fish length increased. Population isotopic niche sizes increased as the dietary influence of MF in that population increased. These results indicated that whilst MF from angling can act as a strong trophic subsidy, its influence varies spatially and with fish length, with its use as a food resource by B. barbus generally involving dietary specializations of larger-bodied individuals

Global responses to the COVID-19 pandemic by recreational anglers: considerations for developing more resilient and sustainable fisheries

The global COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many jurisdictions implementing orders restricting the movements of people to inhibit virus transmission, with recreational angling often either not permitted or access to fisheries and/or related infrastructure being prevented. Following the lifting of restrictions, initial angler surveys and licence sales suggested increased participation and effort, and altered angler demographics, but with evidence remaining limited. Here, we overcome this evidence gap by identifying temporal changes in angling interest, licence sales, and angling effort in world regions by comparing data in the 'pre-pandemic' (up to and including 2019); 'acute pandemic' (2020) and 'COVID-acclimated' (2021) periods. We then identified how changes can inform the development of more resilient and sustainable recreational fisheries. Interest in angling (measured here as angling-related internet search term volumes) increased substantially in all regions during 2020. Patterns in licence sales revealed marked increases in some countries during 2020 but not in others. Where licence sales increased, this was rarely sustained in 2021; where there were declines, these related to fewer tourist anglers due to movement restrictions. Data from most countries indicated a younger demographic of people who participated in angling in 2020, including in urban areas, but this was not sustained in 2021. These short-lived changes in recreational angling indicate efforts to retain younger anglers could increase overall participation levels, where efforts can target education in appropriate angling practices and create more urban angling opportunities. These efforts would then provide recreational fisheries with greater resilience to cope with future global crises, including facilitating the ability of people to access angling opportunities during periods of high societal stress.CG and CS received funding from the Danish Rod and Net Fish Licence funds (project 39122). CS, MSW and the German telephone survey have been cofounded by the European Commission’s Data Collection Framework (DCF). WCL and HVS received financial support from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany in the framework of marEEshift (project no. 01LC1826B). WMP and KH were supported by the One Ocean Hub, an independent programme for collaborative research for development, funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).Peer reviewe

Ten practical realities for institutional animal care and use committees when evaluating protocols dealing with fish in the field

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee’s (IACUCs) serve an important role in ensuring that ethical practices are used by researchers working with vertebrate taxa including fish. With a growing number of researchers working on fish in the field and expanding mandates of IACUCs to regulate field work, there is potential for interactions between aquatic biologists and IACUCs to result in unexpected challenges and misunderstandings. Here we raise a number of issues often encountered by researchers and suggest that they should be taken into consideration by IACUCs when dealing with projects that entail the examination of fish in their natural environment or other field settings. We present these perspectives as ten practical realities along with their implications for establishing IACUC protocols. The ten realities are: (1) fish are diverse; (2) scientific collection permit regulations may conflict with IACUC policies; (3) stakeholder credibility and engagement may constrain what is possible; (4) more (sample size) is sometimes better; (5) anesthesia is not always needed or possible; (6) drugs such as analgesics and antibiotics should be prescribed with care; (7) field work is inherently dynamic; (8) wild fish are wild; (9) individuals are different, and (10) fish capture, handling, and retention are often constrained by logistics. These realities do not imply ignorance on the part of IACUCs, but simply different training and experiences that make it difficult for one to understand what happens outside of the lab where fish are captured and not ordered/purchased/reared, where there are engaged stakeholders, and where there is immense diversity (in size, morphology, behaviour, life-history, physiological tolerances) such that development of rigid protocols or extrapolation from one species (or life-stage, sex, size class, etc.) to another is difficult. We recognize that underlying these issues is a need for greater collaboration between IACUC members (including veterinary professionals) and field researchers which would provide more reasoned, rational and useful guidance to improve or maintain the welfare status of fishes used in field research while enabling researchers to pursue fundamental and applied questions related to the biology of fish in the field. As such, we hope that these considerations will be widely shared with the IACUCs of concerned researchers