ICES, the scientific fisheries advicer to the European Commission was requested to provide an advice on the data needs for monitoring of recreational fisheries. The ICES advice is published here.
The EAA’s Subgroup Sea Angling has data collection on its agenda at its meeting 18 September. A scientist involved with recreational fishing data collection has been invited to the meeting.
It seems clear that the data collection with regard to recreational fisheries in EU will be more extensive and frequent in the future (for some species), which is a good thing. It is also very nice to see, that the advice concerns not only the quantities of the recreational catches but also the socio-economic value of recreational fishing. Cutting:
“2. What recreational fishery data (biological, economic & fisheries activity) are needed to support the scientific
advice?
(..)
Where management plans or strategies require knowledge of the social and economic
benefits of recreational fishing to communities, alongside the benefits from inshore commercial fisheries
exploiting the same stocks, a common methodology is needed for all the fisheries, which will in turn define the
types of data that must be collected.”
Another good read having more about the future for recreational fishing data collection and management in EU is this recent article written by four scientists, who all are members of ICES’ Working Group on Recreational Fisheries Surveys (WGRFS) – Kieran Hyder, Mike Armstrong, Keno Ferter
and Harry V. Strehlow
“Recreational sea fishing
– the high value forgotten catch” – cuttings from page 1 and 2:
“In a nutshell
-
Many millions of people throughout Europe
participate in recreational sea fishing. Recent
surveys show that for some species, recreational
fishery harvests – the weight of fish removed
from the sea – can be as large as some commercial
fishing fleets, but have not been accounted
for until recently in stock assessments. - Europe lags behind countries like the USA and
Australia in collecting and using recreational
fishery data. In the USA, nationwide recreational
fishery surveys have been undertaken since
the 1980s and recreational catch estimates are
routinely incorporated into assessments to
support co-management of many commercial
and recreational fisheries. - In Europe, marine recreational fishery survey
data are sparse and only a few stock assessments
use these data to estimate recreational fishing
mortality. This means we have poor understanding
of marine recreational fishing impacts and
how to account for them in management. - There are statutory requirements to report
recreational catches of some marine species
in Europe, but the surveys are demanding in terms of expertise and infrastructure, and vary
between countries. ICES established its Working
Group on Recreational Fisheries Surveys to help
countries run statistically sound surveys and
develop other supporting studies. - A large proportion of recreational catch is often
released, so accurate estimates of post-release
mortality are also required for stock assessment.
Post-release mortality is difficult to measure and
is dependent on many factors including capture
depth, gear, and species. More studies are
needed in this area. -
Recent surveys in Europe show that recreational
sea fishing has a high economic value. In addition
to addressing conservation goals, future
co-management of European fish stocks for
recreational and commercial purposes should
consider how to maximize the economic and
social values of the different fisheries. New
methods are required to address this.”
