How to regulate recreational fisheries of Atlantic salmon in Brittany ?

• Main Author: Lebot, Clément
• Other Authors: Ecologie Comportementale et Biologie des Populations de Poissons (ECOBIOP), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (UPPA)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, Étienne Prévost
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: Decision-making; Conservation biology; Recreational fisheries; Atlantic salmon; Aide à la décision; Biologie de la conservation; Pêcheries récréatives; Saumon atlantique; [SDV.SA.STP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Sciences and technics of fishery
• Online Access: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03711388; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03711388/document; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03711388/file/thesislebot.pdf

The widespread decline in fishery resources from the early 1980s prompted scientists and fisheries managers to develop quantitative assessment methods to improve their management. These methods have made it possible to justify policies of drastic reduction in fishing pressure which have had a positive impact on many resources. The development and use of these methods has been spearheaded in large-scale, commercial marine fisheries. They are based on long-term monitoring, complex analytical procedures and require frequent updating of assessments to adjust regulatory measures according to the state of the resource. These methods are rarely applied to small inland fisheries which are inherently very different from their marine counterparts. The diversity and complexity of these fisheries, dominated by artisanal or recreational practices, makes the application of such methods more challenging.The objective of this thesis is to develop a method for the quantitative evaluation of the performance of different regulatory scenarios for recreational fisheries of Brittany that target Atlantic salmon. The statistical modeling approach undertaken takes advantage of the very diverse set of data collected since the late 1980s on each of the 18 salmon populations targeted by these fisheries in order to simulate their specific dynamics under different regulatory scenarios. The Bayesian statistical framework used facilitated the integration of the main sources of uncertainty relating to these simulations. The conservation performance was assessed on the basis of a new, simple and clear definition of conservation proposed in the framework of this thesis and adopted by the stakeholders. The evaluation method developed aims to facilitate and fuel dialogue with and between management stakeholders to inform their decision-making. From this perspective, the chosen method is based on easily understandable decision rules and it makes it possible to obtain a sub-set of “best performing” scenarios, which leaves the stakeholders a latitude ...