Catch and release angling for sea trout explored by citizen science: Angler behavior, hooking location and bleeding patterns

Sea trout (anadromous brown trout, Salmo trutta L.) is a popular target species for angling in Denmark and many other countries. In most regions, angling for sea trout is regulated by measures such as minimum landing sizes, bag limits or seasonal closures. This can lead to high catch and release (C&R) rates. However, information about angler behavior, C&R practices, hooking locations and level of injury and bleeding, as well as post-release impacts on survival and growth, is largely missing for this species. In this study, we used a citizen science approach to investigate C&R practices of Danish sea trout anglers and to explore drivers for hooking location and bleeding. During the study period from January 2016 to August 2021, 35,826 sea trout caught by angling were reported by users of the citizen science platform. Spin fishing was the most popular angling method (46 %), followed by fly fishing (35 %), bombarda fishing (19 %) and natural bait fishing (1 %). The results confirmed that C&R is a very widespread practice among Danish sea trout anglers, and ≥80 % of all sea trout captured are being released, the majority because they are below the minimum landing size. Twenty-five percent of the caught sea trout bled, and 2 % showed heavy bleeding. Bleeding was related to hooking location (deeply hooked fish bled the most) and to angling method (fly-caught sea trout bled less than fish caught on spin fishing gear), but the role of these two factors varied with fish length. When looking at fish above the legal minimum size, the share of bleeders among the released sea trout was significantly lower compared to harvested fish, suggesting that anglers were more prone to harvest fish that bled. Further studies on lethal and sublethal effects of C&R on coastal sea trout are needed, ultimately aiming to provide fishery managers and anglers with species- and fishery-specific best practice C&R guidelines.publishedVersio

First Assessment of the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Global Marine Recreational Fisheries

This work is the result of an international research effort to determine the main impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on marine recreational fishing. Changes were assessed on (1) access to fishing, derived from lockdowns and other mobility restrictions; (2) ecosystems, because of alterations in fishing intensity and human presence; (3) the blue economy, derived from alterations in the investments and expenses of the fishers; and (4) society, in relation to variations in fishers’ health and well-being. For this, a consultation with experts from 16 countries was carried out, as well as an international online survey aimed at recreational fishers, that included specific questions designed to capture fishers’ heterogeneity in relation to behavior, skills and know-how, and vital involvement. Fishers’ participation in the online survey (5,998 recreational fishers in 15 countries) was promoted through a marketing campaign. The sensitivity of the fishers’ clustering procedure, based on the captured heterogeneity, was evaluated by SIMPER analysis and by generalized linear models. Results from the expert consultation highlighted a worldwide reduction in marine recreational fishing activity. Lower human-driven pressures are expected to generate some benefits for marine ecosystems. However, experts also identified high negative impacts on the blue economy, as well as on fisher health and well-being because of the loss of recreational fishing opportunities. Most (98%) of the fishers who participated in the online survey were identified as advanced, showing a much higher degree of commitment to recreational fishing than basic fishers (2%). Advanced fishers were, in general, more pessimistic about the impacts of COVID-19, reporting higher reductions in physical activity and fish consumption, as well as poorer quality of night rest, foul mood, and raised more concerns about their health status. Controlled and safe access to marine recreational fisheries during pandemics would provide benefits to the health and well-being of people and reduce negative socioeconomic impacts, especially for vulnerable social groups.Versión del edito

Catch and release angling for sea trout explored by citizen science: Angler behavior, hooking location and bleeding patterns

Sea trout (anadromous brown trout, Salmo trutta L.) is a popular target species for angling in Denmark and many other countries. In most regions, angling for sea trout is regulated by measures such as minimum landing sizes, bag limits or seasonal closures. This can lead to high catch and release (C&R) rates. However, information about angler behavior, C&R practices, hooking locations and level of injury and bleeding, as well as post-release impacts on survival and growth, is largely missing for this species. In this study, we used a citizen science approach to investigate C&R practices of Danish sea trout anglers and to explore drivers for hooking location and bleeding. During the study period from January 2016 to August 2021, 35,826 sea trout caught by angling were reported by users of the citizen science platform. Spin fishing was the most popular angling method (46 %), followed by fly fishing (35 %), bombarda fishing (19 %) and natural bait fishing (1 %). The results confirmed that C&R is a very widespread practice among Danish sea trout anglers, and ≥80 % of all sea trout captured are being released, the majority because they are below the minimum landing size. Twenty-five percent of the caught sea trout bled, and 2 % showed heavy bleeding. Bleeding was related to hooking location (deeply hooked fish bled the most) and to angling method (fly-caught sea trout bled less than fish caught on spin fishing gear), but the role of these two factors varied with fish length. When looking at fish above the legal minimum size, the share of bleeders among the released sea trout was significantly lower compared to harvested fish, suggesting that anglers were more prone to harvest fish that bled. Further studies on lethal and sublethal effects of C&R on coastal sea trout are needed, ultimately aiming to provide fishery managers and anglers with species- and fishery-specific best practice C&R guidelines

Assessment of fishing guide knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours in global recreational fisheries

Fishing guides are held in high esteem by recreational fishing clients whom they likely influence (for better or worse) through role-modelling. This, coupled with consensus that angler behaviour is a key determinant of ecological outcomes in the catch-and-release (C&R) process suggests exploring the state of fishing guide knowledge, attitudes and behaviour on trips is critical for effective intervention in the global fish crisis. Fishing guides were recruited for an online survey using collaborator networks and social media (n = 342; 47 countries). The survey assessed the guides’ knowledge of C&R best practices, attitudes towards environmental behaviours, attitudes towards environmental responsibility and their current practices on guided-angling trips. While most fishing guides were deemed “knowledgeable” (69.0%) having answered most (≥4/7) of the best practice questions correctly, many had poor knowledge of key C&R processes such as oesophageal unhooking. Most fishing guides were untrained (64.0%), and only 8.8% had accredited training. Fishing guides generally had positive environmental attitudes towards C&R behaviour (50.9 – 96.2%), suggesting pro-environmental behavioural intentions. Fishing guides deemed “knowledgeable” had significantly more pro-environmental attitudes towards angling behaviours (p = 0.003), which suggests that best practice training may improve their C&R behaviours. Most fishing guides had pro-environmental attitudes towards their environmental responsibilities (87.1 – 89.5%), but these broad attitudes may have little bearing on actual behaviours when faced with a significant trade-off between client satisfaction and ecological integrity. Despite some fishing guides’ good knowledge of appropriate behaviours, positive attitudes towards the environment and towards C&R practices, there is room for improvement to meet sustainability goals for C&R fisheries, which may be facilitated through opportunities for best practice training

Communication between scientists, fishery managers and recreational fishers: lessons learned from a comparative analysis of international case studies

The management of recreational fisheries benefits from good collaboration between scientists, managers and recreational fishers. However, the level of collaboration largely depends on the levels of effective communication among the different stakeholders. This paper presents the views of scientists, managers and fishers concerning the quality of communication in eleven case studies of recreational fisheries. Case studies were synthesised and common reasons why communication did not always flow as intended were identified. The prevalent barriers to good communication, and therefore collaboration included a lack of rigorous scientific information transfer from scientists to fishers and managers, a fear from fishers that management actions will limit fishing opportunities, pre-existing antagonism between commercial and recreational fisheries, and fishers' suspicion of science. Overcoming these issues is paramount to improve collaboration and participatory processes that help lead to robust, well-accepted management action

Digital fisheries data in the Internet age: Emerging tools for research and monitoring using online data in recreational fisheries

Recreational fisheries are diverse in scale, scope, and participation worldwide, constituting an important ecosystem service of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Management of these socio-ecological systems is challenged by monitoring gaps, stemming from difficulties engaging with participants, biased sampling, and insufficient resources to conduct biological or social surveys of fish and human populations. In the Internet age, online data have great potential to make a meaningful contribution to recreational fisheries research, monitoring, and management. Recreational fishers in some countries increasingly use social and other digital media to share their experiences with followers, with most data freely available to web scrapers that compile databases of text (e.g. tweets, status updates, comments), photos, videos and other media that contain information about spatiotemporal activity, sentiments towards catches/experiences, targeted and bycatch species, effort levels, and more. Although the future of recreational fisheries research, monitoring and management will likely involve more digital scraping, uptake is only just beginning and there are several challenges including tool availability/accessibility, sampling biases, and making findings relevant and usable to practitioners. Despite these challenges, we envision fisheries managers will increasingly turn towards online sources of fisheries data to supplement conventional methods. We challenge scientists to work towards continued method development and validation of various digital fisheries data tools and emphasize how biases from the online behaviour of users may complicate interpretations of these data for fisheries management

Digital fisheries data in the Internet age: Emerging tools for research and monitoring using online data in recreational fisheries

Recreational fisheries are diverse in scale, scope, and participation worldwide, constituting an important ecosystem service of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Management of these socio-ecological systems is challenged by monitoring gaps, stemming from difficulties engaging with participants, biased sampling, and insufficient resources to conduct biological or social surveys of fish and human populations. In the Internet age, online data have great potential to make a meaningful contribution to recreational fisheries research, monitoring, and management. Recreational fishers in some countries increasingly use social and other digital media to share their experiences with followers, with most data freely available to web scrapers that compile databases of text (e.g. tweets, status updates, comments), photos, videos and other media that contain information about spatiotemporal activity, sentiments towards catches/experiences, targeted and bycatch species, effort levels, and more. Although the future of recreational fisheries research, monitoring and management will likely involve more digital scraping, uptake is only just beginning and there are several challenges including tool availability/accessibility, sampling biases, and making findings relevant and usable to practitioners. Despite these challenges, we envision fisheries managers will increasingly turn towards online sources of fisheries data to supplement conventional methods. We challenge scientists to work towards continued method development and validation of various digital fisheries data tools and emphasize how biases from the online behaviour of users may complicate interpretations of these data for fisheries management