Recreational sea fishing in Europe in a global context-Participation rates, fishing effort, expenditure, and implications for monitoring and assessment

• Published in: Fish and Fisheries
• Main Authors: Hyder, Kieran, Weltersbach, Marc Simon, Armstrong, Mike, Ferter, Keno, Townhill, Bryony, Ahvonen, Anssi, Arlinghaus, Robert, Baikov, Andrei, Bellanger, Manuel, Birzaks, Janis, Borch, Trude, Cambie, Giulia, de Graaf, Martin, Diogo, Hugo, M. C., Dziemian, Łukasz, Gordoa, Ana, Grzebielec, Ryszard, Hartill, Bruce, Kagervall, Anders, Kapiris, Kostas, Karlsson, Martin, Kleiven, Alf Ring, Lejk, Adam, Levrel, Harold, Lovell, Sabrina, Lyle, Jeremy, Moilanen, Pentti, Monkman, Graham, Morales-Nin, Beatriz, Mugerza, Estanis, Martinez, Roi, O'Reilly, Paul, Olesen, Hans Jakob, Papadopoulos, Anastasios, Pita, Pablo, Radford, Zachary, Radtke, Krzysztof, Roche, William, Rocklin, Delphine, Ruiz, Jon, Scougal, Callum, Silvestri, Robert, Skov, Christian, Steinback, Scott, Sundelöf, Andreas, Svagzdys, Arvydas, Turnbull, David, van Der Hammen, Tessa, van Voorhees, David, van Winsen, Frankwin, Verleye, Thomas, Veiga, Pedro, Vølstad, Jon, Zarauz, Lucia, Zolubas, Tomas, Strehlow, Harry
• Other Authors: Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Lowestoft (CEFAS), Institute of Baltic Sea Fishery (OSF), Institute of Marine Research Bergen (IMR), University of Bergen (UiB), Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin = Humboldt University of Berlin = Université Humboldt de Berlin (HU Berlin), Leibniz-Institut für Gewässerökologie und Binnenfischerei (IGB), Leibniz Association, University of Tartu, Aménagement des Usages des Ressources et des Espaces marins et littoraux - Centre de droit et d'économie de la mer (AMURE), Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment (BIOR), Akvaplan-Niva Tromsø, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA), Wageningen University and Research Wageningen (WUR), Department of Oceanography and Fisheries Horta, University of the Azores, National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas España = Spanish National Research Council Spain (CSIC), National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Auckland (NIWA), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences = Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet (SLU), Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), centre international de recherche sur l'environnement et le développement (CIRED), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS)-AgroParisTech-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies Hobart (IMAS), University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia (UTAS), School of Ocean Sciences Menai Bridge, Bangor University, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avancats (IMEDEA), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas España = Spanish National Research Council Spain (CSIC)-Universitat de les Illes Balears = Universidad de las Islas Baleares = University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), AZTI - Tecnalia, Inland Fisheries Ireland, DTU Aqua, National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet = Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Spain (USC ), Memorial University of Newfoundland = Université Memorial de Terre-Neuve St. John's, Canada (MUN), Centro Interuniversitario di Biologia Marina ed Ecologia Applicata (C.I.B.M.), Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Marine Scotland, Research Institute for Agricultural, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee, Centre of Marine Sciences Faro (CCMAR), University of Algarve Portugal
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Semi‐quantitative bias assessment; Fish stocks; Social benefits; Economic value; Marine recreational fishing; Sustainable fisheries management; [SDE]Environmental Sciences; [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-01939789; https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-01939789/document; https://hal.univ-brest.fr/hal-01939789/file/Fish%20and%20Fisheries%20-%202017%20-%20Hyder%20-%20Recreational%20sea%20fishing%20in%20Europe%20in%20a%20global%20context%20Participation%20rates%20fishing.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12251

International audience Marine recreational fishing (MRF) is a high‐participation activity with large economic value and social benefits globally, and it impacts on some fish stocks. Although reporting MRF catches is a European Union legislative requirement, estimates are only available for some countries. Here, data on numbers of fishers, participation rates, days fished, expenditures, and catches of two widely targeted species were synthesized to provide European estimates of MRF and placed in the global context. Uncertainty assessment was not possible due to incomplete knowledge of error distributions; instead, a semi‐quantitative bias assessment was made. There were an estimated 8.7 million European recreational sea fishers corresponding to a participation rate of 1.6%. An estimated 77.6 million days were fished, and expenditure was €5.9 billion annually. There were higher participation, numbers of fishers, days fished and expenditure in the Atlantic than the Mediterranean, but the Mediterranean estimates were generally less robust. Comparisons with other regions showed that European MRF participation rates and expenditure were in the mid‐range, with higher participation in Oceania and the United States, higher expenditure in the United States, and lower participation and expenditure in South America and Africa. For both northern European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, Moronidae) and western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua, Gadidae) stocks, MRF represented 27% of the total removals. This study highlights the importance of MRF and the need for bespoke, regular and statistically sound data collection to underpin European fisheries management. Solutions are proposed for future MRF data collection in Europe and other regions to support sustainable fisheries management.