How Did the Czech Fishing Union Convince over 99% of Czech Recreational Anglers to Report Their Harvested Fish and Their Fishing Visits into Their Angling Logbooks?

This study summarizes the recommendations regarding how to set a recreational angling reporting system where over 99% of the anglers report their harvested fish and their fishing visits. We conducted 40 in-depth interviews with anglers and managers of fisheries, where we asked about the reporting of harvested fish and fishing visits and about compliance with reporting and fishing rules. We achieved the high reporting rate by implementing a mandatory reporting system using angling logbooks, where anglers must write down all harvested fish and all fishing visits. The anglers must return the filled in angling logbooks to continue angling legally. The compliance of anglers with the fishing rules is enforced through field inspections by angling guards. The Czech Fishing Union explains the reasoning behind the fishing rules through local angling organisations where the fishery managers know the anglers personally, arguing that if the anglers do not comply with the angling rules, there will be no fish left to catch in the future. Keeping anglers informed regarding any changes to angling rules is critical for maintaining trust. The effective reporting system requires mandatory angling logbooks, but the communication between the Fishing Union and their anglers is essential to ensure that anglers comply with the system.

COVID-19 influences on US recreational angler behavior

Recreational angling in the United States (US) is largely a personal hobby that scales up to a multibillion-dollar economic activity. Given dramatic changes to personal decisions and behaviors resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, we surveyed recreational anglers across the US to understand how the pandemic may have affected their fishing motivations and subsequent activities. Nearly a quarter million anglers from 10 US states were invited to participate in the survey, and almost 18,000 responded. Anglers reported numerous effects of the pandemic, including fishing access restrictions. Despite these barriers, we found that the amount of fishing in the spring of 2020 was significantly greater—by about 0.2 trips per angler—than in non-pandemic springs. Increased fishing is likely associated with our result that most respondents considered recreational angling to be a COVID-19 safe activity. Nearly a third of anglers reported changing their motivation for fishing during the pandemic, with stress relief being more popular during the pandemic than before. Driven partly by the perceived safety of social fishtancing, recreational angling remained a popular activity for many US anglers during spring 2020.

Microplastic in angling baits as a cryptic source of contamination in European freshwaters

High environmental microplastic pollution, and its largely unquantified impacts on organisms, are driving studies to assess their potential entry pathways into freshwaters. Recreational angling, where many anglers release manufactured baits into freshwater ecosystems, is a widespread activity with important socio-economic implications in Europe. It also represents a potential microplastic pathway into freshwaters that has yet to be quantified. Correspondingly, we analysed three different categories of industrially-produced baits (‘groundbait’, ‘boilies’ and ‘pellets’) for their microplastic contamination (particles 700 µm to 5 mm). From 160 samples, 28 microplastics were identified in groundbait and boilies, with a mean concentration of 17.4 (± 48.1 SD) MP kg−1 and 6.78 (± 29.8 SD) mg kg−1, yet no microplastics within this size range were recorded in the pellets. Microplastic concentrations significantly differed between bait categories and companies, but microplastic characteristics did not vary. There was no correlation between microplastic contamination and the number of bait ingredients, but it was positively correlated with C:N ratio, indicating a higher contamination in baits with higher proportion of plant-based ingredients. We thus reveal that bait microplastics introduced accidentally during manufacturing and/or those originating from contaminated raw ingredients might be transferred into freshwaters. However, further studies are needed to quantify the relative importance of this cryptic source of contamination and how it influences microplastic levels in wild fish.

Species-specific vulnerability to angling and its size-selectivity in sympatric stream salmonids

In mixed fisheries where multiple species are caught, to manage resources sustainably, knowledge about the species-specific vulnerability to fishing is equally or even more important than knowledge of size-selectivity of the gear. We compared the vulnerability to bait recreational angling in four salmonids in natural streams. The ranking of species-specific angling vulnerability was as follows (from highest to lowest): rainbow trout, white-spotted charr, masu salmon, and Dolly Varden. In all species, larger individuals were more vulnerable to angling, but there were differences in the size-dependence between species. In rainbow trout and Dolly Varden (which have a non-anadromous life-history in the study area) the probability of being caught monotonically increased with body size, while the vulnerability to angling in masu salmon and white-spotted charr (which have an anadromous life-history in the study area) showed a domed shaped pattern. We found that across the species the catch-per-unit effort showed a hyperstable relationship with population density. Therefore, diminishing local populations are prone to collapse, and this collapse would be hard to foresee based on catch rate data alone.

Rekreasyon/Sportif Olta Balıkçılığı; Ankara İli Örneği

The concentration of job opportunities in the city centers with the industrialization and the advancement in technology since the 19th century has accelerated the rural-urban migration. Ankara is one of the leading provinces receiving immigration due to the effect of being the capital city. The demand for recreation areas has increased in crowded cities. Recreational anglers especially in ponds, lakes, dams and rivers have been increasing rapidly. Angling done for only sports and recreation purpose without any commercial gain is the one the most important recreational activities. Socio-economic status of fishermen was investigated in the field study. The seasons, hours and periods of fishing, self-sufficiency of catches, continuity of fish stocks and relative amount of catch in fishing of amateur fishermen were determined. The safety of the fishes in terms of health, their opinions and thoughts about fishing rules, ownership status of amateur angling certificate and whether they are aware of the institutions that inspect the laws and regulations were investigated. The results of the research are aimed to shed light on the fishermen who have devoted themselves to recreational angling. In addition, it is aimed to increase the number of amateur fishermen with high level of awareness that will contribute to the provision of sustainable and continuous fishing by raising the level of awareness.

Assessment of trout populations inhabiting the Palena River, southern Chile

A survey of trout species was carried out to assess the trout stocks' quality inhabiting the Palena River Basin, one of the most important rivers for recreational angling in Chilean Patagonia. Six sampling campaigns were carried out over 16 selected stretches of the river between February 2012 and June 2013. A total of 912 trout were collected, 57% rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), 33.3% brown trout (Salmo trutta), and 9.6% brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Also, one tiger trout (Salmo trutta × Salvelinus fontinalis) (a hybrid between brown and brook trout) was recorded. Results showed that both rainbow trout and brown trout shared the same reaches of the river, with very similar feeding habits, while brook trout inhabited smaller and more enclosed streams. Maturity stages (V-VI) were recorded from the fish sampled over the period spring-summer-autumn in the case of rainbow trout; autumn-winter for brook trout, and summer-autumn for brook trout. One of the study's most notable features was the small size of the mature brook trout, reaching 17.5 cm in length for gravid females and 12.4 cm for mature males at age 2+. The maximum age recorded for rainbow and brown trout was 6+, with a maximum length of 69.8 and 58.5cm, respectively, while for brook trout, the maximum age recorded was 3+ for a female with a length of 29.9 cm length and 2+ for a male of 16.6 cm.

The battle between harvest and natural selection creates small and shy fish

Harvest of fish and wildlife, both commercial and recreational, is a selective force that can induce evolutionary changes to life history and behavior. Naturally selective forces may create countering selection pressures. Assessing natural fitness represents a considerable challenge in broadcast spawners. Thus, our understanding about the relative strength of natural and fisheries selection is slim. In the field, we compared the strength and shape of harvest selection to natural selection on body size over four years and behavior over one year in a natural population of a freshwater top predator, the northern pike (Esox lucius). Natural selection was approximated by relative reproductive success via parent–offspring genetic assignments over four years. Harvest selection was measured by comparing individuals susceptible to recreational angling with individuals never captured by this gear type. Individual behavior was measured by high-resolution acoustic telemetry. Harvest and natural size selection operated with equal strength but opposing directions, and harvest size selection was consistently negative in all study years. Harvest selection also had a substantial behavioral component independent of body length, while natural behavioral selection was not documented, suggesting the potential for directional harvest selection favoring inactive, timid fish. Simulations of the outcomes of different fishing regulations showed that traditional minimum size-based harvest limits are unlikely to counteract harvest selection without being completely restrictive. Our study suggests harvest selection may be inevitable and recreational fisheries may thus favor small, inactive, shy, and difficult-to-capture fish. Increasing fractions of shy fish in angling-exploited stocks would have consequences for stock assessment and all fisheries operating with hook and line.

Data-poor stock assessment of fish stocks co-exploited by commercial and recreational fisheries: applications to pike (Esox lucius) in the western Baltic Sea

Information on catch and effort of recreational angling in mixed-use fisheries (co-exploited by commercial and recreational fishers) is often scarce, preventing the application of data-rich stock assessments typically performed for industrialized commercial fisheries. Here, we show how data-poor stock assessment methods developed for marine fisheries, particularly a class of models labelled as “catch-only” models (COMs), offer a possible solution. As a case study, we use COMs to assess a northern pike stock around the German Baltic island of Rügen. We fit multiple COMs to a time-series of total pike removals, and use their outputs as explanatory variables in superensemble models. We conclude that the stock is fully exploited and currently declining. Our study highlights the potential for using COMs to determine status of previously-unassessed coastal and freshwater stocks facing recreational fishing pressure, and demonstrates how incorporating recreational removals is crucial for achieving reliable insights into the status of mixed-use stocks.