WRFC10 Program

Steve Moyer serves as Vice President for Government Affairs at Trout Unlimited’s headquarters in Arlington, VA. He is TU’s senior advocate on Capitol Hill and with federal agencies. He works with TU’s local chapters and state councils to help them with their state and local advocacy efforts and develops and implements TU grassroots advocacy campaigns.

Steve has been extremely fortunate to work in the fish and wildlife conservation field since 1980, and for Trout Unlimited for the past 29 years. For his conservation accomplishments – most assuredly NOT for his fishing prowess—he was inducted into the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 2014.

Prior to his tenure at Trout Unlimited, he led advocacy efforts at the National Wildlife Federation on behalf of fisheries, wetlands and related appropriations legislation. He holds a B.S. in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine and an M.S. in Fisheries Science from Virginia Tech.

TU’s mission is to conserve, protect, and restore the nation’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. TU has 300,000 members and supporters in 380 chapters nationwide.

The importance of communicating applicable fisheries science to recreational anglers cannot be underestimated. Equally valuable is creating opportunities for fisheries scientists to listen to recreational anglers to help ensure that their science is grounded. Keep Fish Wet is a US based non-profit with a mission to help anglers improve the outcome for each fish they release. While the main focus of Keep Fish Wet is to convey a consistent and persistent message about the science-based best practices for catch-and-release, we also utilize various strategies to facilitate communication and information sharing in both directions. This is not always an easy task and some of the hurdles have been unexpected. Given the increase in grassroots movements to disseminate best practices to anglers, the lessons learned from Keep Fish Wet have the potential to be of great benefit to other groups engaged in angler outreach related to best practices and broader natural resources conservation.

Biography: 
Sascha Clark Danylchuk is the Executive Director of Keep Fish Wet, a US-based nonprofit dedicated to helping anglers improve the outcome for each fish they release. Sascha has a M.S. in Aquatic Ecology from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and has focused much of her scientific work on recreational angling, specifically the science of catch-and-release. With a strong belief that recreational anglers have something to learn from fisheries scientists and that scientists need to make their work accessible to a wider audience, Sascha endeavors to develop a space in which effective communication and changing social norms can help create more resilient recreational fisheries around the world.

An average angler fishing on an average open-access lake fishery targeting Rainbow Trout in British Columbia is expected to catch less than one fish per hour and on many fisheries less than a fish per day. Experimental fishing data on research lakes indicates that these open access fishery conditions represent an 80-90% decline from pristine fishing quality. However, individual angler experiences are not necessarily represented by the average catch characteristics. Approximately 30% of fishers catch nothing at all, whereas the top 10% of anglers report catch rates near pristine conditions. Meanwhile, regulations across the diversity of Oncorhynchus mykiss fisheries in the province range from catch-and-release with limited seasonal openings to harvest fisheries with angler incentive programs that provide high value prizes to anglers that submit harvested fish heads. These complex and apparently contradicting observations for a single species in a single management jurisdiction arise from processes common to all recreational fisheries. At each functional level of the recreational fishery (fish, fishers and managers) the level of naivety (or experience) can be an important driver of fishery outcomes. This presentation will review some specific case studies and experimental data for BC recreational fisheries and discuss the magnitude and relative importance of these underlying processes in achieving specified management objectives.

Biography: 
Paul Askey is a fisheries scientist working for the Freshwater Fisheries Society of British Columbia, and has worked on research and management across all aspects of the diverse recreational fisheries of BC. Within his role, Paul supports the provincial fisheries program by providing quantitative analyses and interactive management tools, leading and participating on several committees for conservation, monitoring and fisheries management, as well as being involved in habitat restoration projects. A summary of the FFSBC research team is at: https://www.gofishbc.com/Blog/About-Us/Meet-Our-Research-Team.aspx.

Striped bass are arguably one of the most important sport fisheries in the United States.  Along the Atlantic coast, recreational striped bass fishing is currently managed through implementation of size restrictions and possession limits.  Fish that don’t meet the regulatory criteria for harvest have to be released by anglers.  In addition, many anglers now voluntarily practice catch-and-release of striped bass as a conservation measure.  Unfortunately, despite the best intentions of anglers practicing catch-and-release, fish that appear to be healthy when they are released may exhibit post release injuries or stress caused by angling and handling, potentially resulting in mortality sometime after release.

Stripers for the Future is a research and education campaign initiated in 2011 as a collaborative effort with the recreational angling community. The goal of Stripers for the Future is to educate anglers about striped bass life history and ecology and how they can contribute to the conservation and long-term sustainability of the striped bass fishery.   In particular, we believe that proper catch-and-release techniques should be a key piece of every angler’s education.

This poster presentation will highlight our efforts to develop and disseminate scientific information on local striped bass populations and scientifically-based recommendations on best practices for catch-and-release.

Biography: 
John Tiedemann is the Assistant Dean in the Monmouth University School of Science and Director of the University’s Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy Program. His work over the past 40 years has addressed a breadth of marine and environmental science and resource management issues in the greater New York Bight region. When not at work he can be found surfing or fishing along New Jersey’s northern coast.

Modern fish-protection screens offer significant potential benefits for native fish, recreational fishing and farming in Australia. Screening the 4500 pumps in New South Wales alone could protect millions of fish every year and generate billions for regional economies through manufacturing and installation. Over the past 5 years, recreational anglers have been driving adoption of screening technology through a catalytic project called Fish Screens Australia. The project has helped build awareness, integrate screening into government policies, and establish showcase sites. Now, these sites, and experiences of early adopters, are being used to demonstrate the benefits of screening to the majority of water users. Ultimately, the goal is to have water users – particularly those in irrigation industries looking to secure their long term sustainability – widely accept and adopt modern screens as a standard best practice.

Biography: 
Dr Craig Boys is a Principal Research Scientist at NSW DPI Fisheries, based in Port Stephens. Craig has been instrumental in the development of fish-friendly river infrastructure in NSW and beyond. His research provides information, insights and innovations to empower the management of fish and their habitats.

Marine recreational fishing (MRF) is a high-participation activity with large economic value and social benefits globally, and may impact some fish stocks on a regional scale. The importance of MRF is often ignored by policy makers, with governance varying greatly between countries. The reasons for this are unclear, but are likely to be due to a combination of challenges surrounding knowledge, data, complexity, enforcement and lack of policy. In Europe, MRF governance is not well defined, and the implications of incorporating this sector into existing structures is poorly understood, as management objectives are mainly focussed on the needs of large commercial fisheries. Effective recreational fisheries governance requires explicit acknowledgement of recreational fisheries with a clear legal definition in policy, a well‐developed policy statement, extensive co‐management processes, clearly defined biological, economic and social monitoring structures and efficient and transparent cost recovery mechanisms. The aim of this study was to review the effectiveness of current MRF governance in Europe, highlighting the issues and identifying solutions to maximise societal benefits in future. To achieve this, the key issues were identified by recreational fisheries experts in the context of the key principles of effective governance. Then a SWOT-CAME analysis was done to assess what is needed to move forwards toward full integration of recreational fisheries within the fisheries governance structures in Europe. Recommendations are made about key actions that are needed for this implementation in the context of existing legislation and the current policy framework.

Aquatic invasive species are often spread by recreational anglers who visit two or more bodies of water within a short time frame. However, movement data that are critical to explaining, predicting, and preventing the spread of invasive species over broad spatial areas are lacking. This presentation summarizes four studies that demonstrate the potential for data from fishing apps to fill this gap. 1) A study that revealed a dense network of short-distance angler movements that combined to form invasion superhighways that spanned the contiguous United States, explained existing invasive species distributions, and identified possible invasion fronts. 2) A study that leveraged big data to predict lake invasions in a major river basin of the United States. Features that made a lake more attractive to recreational anglers and boaters were consistently important across our predictive models, including the presence of a boat ramp, larger lake size, and greater natural landscape surrounding the lake. Co-occurring invasive species were also important. 3) A study showed that the propensity of anglers to move among lakes was weakly and positively associated with characteristics that were associated with avidity (e.g., specialization, large catches, willingness to fish in bad weather and during weekdays). 4) A study that compared two predicted connectivity networks among lakes in Minnesota, United States: one that was based on boater inspection data, which are the gold standard but spatially limited, and one that was based on fishing app data, which are spatially extensive but unvalidated.

The decision by an angler to harvest or release a fish can have important implication for fisheries management and conservation. While catch-and-release fishing is a growing trend amongst anglers worldwide, many anglers and recreational fisheries are still driven by the consumption of fish, thus creating the need to understand what drives the diversity in this behaviour. We examined the harvest behaviour of anglers using trip-level (n=19,558) catch and harvest information from two fisheries with contrasting governance and cultural contexts within the same nation, a small club context of north-western Germany (Lower Saxony) and a regional context with largely open access in north-eastern Germany (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). Both fisheries are from the same eco-region and offer a similar species mix (predominantly freshwater). We hypothesized that voluntary release rates would be lower in the eastern German fishery (MWP) due to a legacy of economic hardship and utilitarian values. We found support for this hypothesis, with MWP anglers harvesting a higher proportion of their catch than LS anglers, after controlling for other variables. This result, in agreement with previous studies, implies that angler behaviour might, to some degree, be outside of the direct control of fishery management. Additionally, voluntary catch-and-release behaviour varied across trip contexts (e.g., target species) and measures of angler specialization (i.e., skill, psychological commitment and behavioural commitment). Interestingly, we found that an angler’s satisfaction with their previous trip increased the likelihood that they would release fish on the current trip, revealing a link between social outcomes and future ecological decisions. The general picture emerging from this study is that managers and researchers must account for the wide-ranging diversity across anglers, situational contexts, and social-ecological contexts that may affect angler behaviours.

This presentation outlines our progress with a decade-long engaged research project to improve the catch and release (C&R) behaviour of a competitive angling group, the Rock and Surf Super Pro League (RASSPL). We followed a pro-environmental behaviour framework suggested by Geller (2002) which included the collection of baseline C&R behaviour and fish health indices during the national competition in 2014, the design of a broad range of interventions (structural, incentives and education and feedback) and continues assessment of progress. We found significant improvements in angler C&R behaviour by 2017 and used a survey to identify which of the intervention strategies were perceived to illicit the greatest behavioural reform. Of the 37 anglers for whom we had direct evidence for improved C&R behaviour, we found that the rule (structural) changes and presentations (educational) interventions were perceived to have the greatest impact. After 2017, we ceased further direct engagements with anglers to assess whether the observed changes manifested over the long term. We then reassessed C&R behaviour during the national competition in 2019 and were surprised to find that C&R behaviour had improved further. We employed a semi-structured interview with the managers of each of the seven franchises to gain an understanding of how the C&R behaviour improved despite the limited intervention in 2018 and 2019. Based on these interviews, we concluded that the annual conservation trophy which is awarded at the end of the national competition to the team with the best handling practices was the primary driver for the recent self-improvement. These findings not only suggest that our intervention was sustainable, but that exploiting the key motivations of anglers, in this case, their competitive nature, may promote long-term behavioural improvements. However, understanding these key motivations may only be possible in interventions where researchers are well-immersed in the target group.

Biography: 

Fish are those most diverse group of vertebrate species on the planet. They have evolved their life histories to live in a wide range of aquatic systems and related natural disturbance regimes. Unfortunately, the Anthropocene is bringing novel and rapidly escalating threats to fish and their habitats, impacting their populations at a rate that is likely too quick for some species to adapt. Although recreational fishing can be viewed as a disturbance that impacts fish welfare (when compared to other threats in what is a very complex social-ecological system), recreational fishers can be important ‘eyes on the water’ and catalysts for positive change when it comes to supporting conservation and management for the species and places they are passionate about. For this talk, we will use a range of examples from across the globe to highlight how recreational fishers and grassroots groups have brought awareness to environmental issues facing fish and their essential habitats. Questions related to potential impacts on fish can originate from such groups, and they often play an active role in scientific research to test related hypotheses. Through their initiatives, anglers and grassroots fishing organizations can become informed advocates for policy and management change. Moreover, collective grassroots movements in recreational fisheries can be agents of change by shifting social norms and building community around individual fisher behavior that can have positive impacts on targeted fish species. There can also be additional benefits to non-target fish species, aquatic communities, watersheds, and ecosystems, that can contribute to broader conservation initiatives and outcomes.

Biography: 

Monetary appraisal of the impacts of fisheries policies is a legal requirement in many global fisheries and is crucial for effective policy making. Some changes in costs and benefits attributable to policy can be assessed through impacts on markets, whilst others are more difficult, as markets may not exist. Methods are needed to assess value generated by fisheries under different management regimes. The northern stock of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) has declined rapidly over the past decade leading to management of both the commercial and recreational sectors. Bag limits, closed seasons, and minimum sizes were introduced for recreational fishers, but the social impact of management measures has not been quantified. Here, we use sea bass to demonstrate a method for assessing the impact of management measures on fisher welfare. Through combining stock assessments, individual catch data and estimates of welfare from a recent choice experiment, differences in welfare under a range of regulatory scenarios were compared. Nine scenarios based on management implemented between 2014-2020 were tested. Highest welfare estimates were found with the lowest levels of restrictions, while lowest estimates for a no-take fishery, this was driven by retained fish having a higher value than released fish. There was a difference of £28.7 million in estimated welfare generated by the recreational sector between these extremes, with the remaining scenarios amid those values. Our results highlight the need for policy makers to carefully consider management options that protect both fish stocks and the welfare of anglers.

Biography: 

Recreational sea angling is a popular and high value activity in the UK with catches of some species significant. However, in many cases recreational catches are not included in stock assessments affecting our ability to manage fish stocks sustainably.

In the UK, annual reporting of recreational catches is required under the Fisheries Act 2020, which came into force when the UK left the European Union.

To meet this and previous EU requirements, the Sea Angling Diary research programme has been running since 2016 . A combined approach with a population survey and diary panel was developed to estimate the expenditure and catches of all species by recreational sea anglers. The national survey provided estimates of the numbers of sea anglers by region across the UK and their avidity. A diary panel of 2,300 sea anglers (in 2022, almost 6,000 in total) reported catches monthly using a bespoke mobile app and online system developed for the project . Additional data were collected using in-system surveys on expenditure, physical health and well-being. The estimates of catches and expenditure were raised to the total population accounting for avidity and location and partitioned to provide estimates at the regional sea level. Key elements include the deployment of novel methods including the mobile app. Recruitment of sea anglers is undertaken utilising both traditional and non-traditional methods, including social media promotion and advertising. Data completion is encouraged through incentives and diarist engagement methods. The effectiveness of these methods is assessed and compared. The objective is to present how novel methods have been utilised in this case and the outcome will be to discuss their effectiveness in light of others' experience and improve practice and data quality.

Catch-and-release (C&R) is a popular management tool that can support the sustainability of recreational fisheries, if anglers adopt scientifically informed “best practices”. However, although the role of best practices is widely established in the academic literature, it is uncertain if and how this knowledge is being disseminated to anglers. Here we investigate the communication of best practice information in the context of local recreational fisheries management organizations composed of private fishing right holders. Using a sample of 331 Swedish organizations, we analyze quality and quantity of available information on websites through which these organizations sell fishing licenses to anglers. By conceptualizing this information as institutional statements and assessing against a number of organization characteristics we demonstrate a widespread use of C&R as a management tool that necessitates the release of fish (e.g. through size and bag limits), but a general lack of best practice information. Among the small fraction of organizations that mention best practices, most mention only a single practice, and there is little consistency regarding which best practices receive attention. We also suggest that information particularly needs to improve in relation to organizations managing lake fisheries. Notably, these organizations provide very little best practice information, but often manage pike (Esox Lucius) and perch (Perca fluviatilis), which are by the far the most landed and released species nationally. The lack of quality guidance on C&R best practices in local fisheries management indicates missed opportunities to improve the use of the C&R as a management tool and increase fishery sustainability moving forward. Our analysis invites further discussion around how and why we view and treat species differently, when and how to improve communication of best practice information, as well as who should be responsible for leading such development when fisheries are locally managed by private fishing right holders.

Biography: 
Samuel Blyth is a PhD candidate in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development at Uppsala University in Sweden. His current research focuses on questions around the application of catch and release as part of fishery management tools, and the characteristics and behaviours of different angler groups in multi-species fisheries. In the past Samuel has worked with a diverse range of topics including investigating the links between mangrove ecosystem services and human well-being, biological monitoring of locally managed marine areas, and innovative upcycling of organic waste streams.

Sea trout (anadromous brown trout, Salmo trutta L.) is an important recreational fisheries target species in many countries. Several recreational fisheries surveys revealed high catch and release (C&R) rates up to 80% in various European countries such as Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. Despite these high release rates, information about post-release impacts on survival and growth, is very limited for this species. In this study, we conducted a C&R angling experiment in a flow-through seawater raceway (total water volume of approx. 310 cbm) focusing on sublegal (<40cm) sea trout, to explore bleeding patterns and to investigate impacts on the survival and growth of angled and released sea trout up to 29 days post release. The C&R angling experiment showed that bleeding can be common among angled sea trout but differed between angling treatments (spin fishing with treble hook (size 4), spin fishing with single hook (size 1/0) and fly fishing with single hook (size 12)). No mortality and no significant differences in growth were found after a 26-29 days monitoring period among a control group and the three treatment groups caught during standardized experimental angling. Most fish had no or only minor hooking injuries upon inspection at study termination, but 6% showed signs of poor wound healing and infections. This group also showed signs of reduced growth and was dominated by fish caught during spin fishing and hooked with treble hooks. The results indicate that adverse effects of C&R on coastal sea trout may be limited and may not pose a significant population problem. Nevertheless, further studies in the field (e.g., mark-recapture or biotelemetry studies) are needed to corroborate our results.

From on the water conservation to establishing national policies, marine recreational fisheries in the United States are driven by the stewardship, leadership, and advocacy of anglers. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) works with and through anglers, constructively harnessing their knowledge and passion to understand and address science and management priorities. The 4th National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Summit was held in March 2022, with leading anglers and fishing organizations from across the US. Co-hosted by federal and state managers and guided by a committee of anglers, the Summit theme, Recreational Fisheries in a Time of Change, acknowledged the substantial changes affecting our global oceans and fisheries. The Summit provided resource managers an inside look at the current priorities and interests of US marine anglers, including climate change, ocean wind energy and marine aquaculture development, fishery management objectives, and data concerns. One outcome of the 2022 Summit was a recognition that NOAA's National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy (2015), a document guiding the agency’s approach to recreational fisheries, must adapt to maintain relevance. NOAA launched efforts to update the policy on August 1st, 2022. The objectives of this presentation are to share with conference participants 1) effective approaches and challenges to harnessing the knowledge and leadership of anglers to improve fishery science and management 2) priorities of US anglers as identified at the 2022 Summit, and 3) key angler inputs to updating the US National Saltwater Recreational Fisheries Policy.

Changes to management of a fisheries resource are often required to ensure their ongoing sustainability. However, such changes can lead to adverse, counter-productive effects. For example, reducing bag limits to support stock recovery will decrease the retained catch but may subsequently increase the released catch and associated mortality. Recreational fishing management changes were introduced on the west coast of Australia in 2009/10 to recover stocks of demersal fishes. Key changes included reducing bag limits and an annual two month closure to recreational fishing. The restrictive catch limits resulted in increased release rates of key fish species. However, whether such increases are significant and sustained over time, and thus of management concern, has not been evaluated. We carried out intervention analysis to evaluate the impact of management changes on release rates of four key recreational species in metropolitan and regional management zones covering ~8° latitude using an 18-year time series of charter fishery data from July 2002 to January 2020. We observed varying responses in release rates by species and zones, the most common of which were a permanent increase, a temporary increase that decayed or a combination of the two. These responses may be related to targeted management changes, as well as changes in fisher behaviour, perceived recreational value of some species and recruitment variation. Our study demonstrates that intervention analysis can assist in evaluating the impact of management changes on different species for recreational fisheries.

Giant Atlantic bluefin tuna have returned to Norwegian waters after several decades of absence, and there have been increasing catches and an increasing number of observations since 2012. Fishing for the species is strictly regulated, and since 2019 there has been a highly regulated recreational fishery for this species. Anglers that are interested in targeting bluefin tuna must apply as a fishing team to the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, and document that they have both the right equipment and necessary fishing experience. A prerequisite for participating in this fishery is that the anglers contribute to research at the Institute of Marine Research. The teams must report all observations, contribute to tagging, and provide meat samples from different locations in the fish fillet. So far, the Institute of Marine Research has obtained meat samples from more than 20 bluefin tuna for analysis for environmental toxins and nutrients. In addition, recreational fishermen have delivered over 1,000 observations in recent years. Some of the teams also engage in tagging by either tagging with spaghetti tags or transferring fish to a research vessel for electronic tagging. The Institute of Marine Research tagged a total of 14 bluefin tuna with pop-up archival satellite tags in 2020 and 2021. Four of these fish were caught by recreational fishermen. The satellite tags stay on for a year, and log depth, temperature and light conditions before they detach from the fish and send the collected data via satellite. Based on this data, it was possible to model the several thousand kilometer-long migration routes of the tuna. The research results of this fishery contribute to a knowledge-based management of the species, so that future generations can experience this spectacular fish.

The economic contributions of expenditures associated with recreational fisheries have been well documented in many contexts around the globe. This often results in calls for increased participation in recreational fisheries which is believed to increase these contributions. However, increased recreational fishery participation amounts to increased impacts on resources reducing the benefits of economic contributions from the activity. In an exclusive fishery in the Outer Islands of the Seychelles archipelago, where annual participation is limited, the economic contributions can be substantial and the per participant expenditures significantly higher than typical recreational fisheries. The exclusivity attracts relatively affluent subgroups of international recreational fishery participants that engage in highly specialized forms of recreational catch and release only fishing which produces minimal impacts on the Outer Islands’ fishery resources. Using information on Outer Island visitation, and visitor questionnaires, it was estimated that roughly 555 participants per year spend an average of USD 17 334.67 per angler totaling USD 9.6 million in expenditures relating to recreational fishing. Per angler spending in the Outer Islands is roughly five times higher than that of the Inner Islands (USD 3 464.71) which experiences nearly 40 times the number of non-resident participants, who also engage in more consumptive fishing behaviours. Participants in the fishery also place high value on the exclusivity of the fishery and its overall quality. This presentation highlights the utility of limited-access recreational fisheries in providing substantial economic benefits while minimizing ecological impacts of the activity.

Biography: 
Christopher Bova is a member of the Southern Africa Fisheries Ecology Research (SAFER) Lab at Rhodes University in South Africa. His reseach in recreational fisheries involves economic and sociological assessments of participation, management, and regulatroy compliance.

The population status of two popular iconic fish species, snapper (Chrysophrys auratus) and pearl perch (Glaucosoma scapulare), has been assessed as depleted in Queensland waters despite over 20 years of successive management changes. Reducing harvest pressure is now as important as ever for rebuilding the biomass levels. The ‘Fishing for Change’ project used a social marketing approach, specifically co-create, build and engage (CBETM), engaging stakeholders to co-create a solution that could be applied to voluntarily change recreational fishing behaviour. This led to ‘Switch Your Fish’ – a pilot social marketing campaign that aimed to encourage recreational fishers to target an alternative mix of fish species (mahi mahi, amberjack and cobia) to reduce the fishing pressure on snapper and pearl perch. The novel approach aimed to break through the limitations of regulation-focused fisheries management delivering a complimentary people-centred approach supported by recreational fishers and other community members. The pilot-program reached more than 20,000 people over six months and was supported by a quantitative evaluation of boat ramp survey interviews and catch data to assess the pilot program’s effectiveness. The results indicated that the Switch Your Fish campaign appeared to influence the behaviour of some anglers towards fishing for the alternate species promoted in the campaign. This study demonstrates potential for fisheries management to apply social marketing, a strategic and voluntary approach that ‘sells’ rather than ‘tells’ people what to do. The study also identified a number of key lessons to support the implementation of future behaviour change initiatives.

Biography: 
Sam is a Senior Fisheries Biologist at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries who work closely with fishers to address research questions of interest to the Queensland's fish and fisheries.

Sciaenids in the genus Argyrosomus (“kob” in South Africa) are important to global temperate and tropical coastal fisheries. Argyrosomus japonicus, Argyrosomus inodorus and Argyrosomus thorpei are highly desirable in southern African fisheries. These threatened southern African endemics (IUCN; stocks collapsed by 1990s) continue to be heavily exploited, primarily by a complex, multi-sectoral linefishery. Additionally, susceptibility to climate change, altered ecological processes (e.g. fluvial discharge) and declining essential fish-habitats (e.g. estuaries) are concerning. This prompted a planning initiative (IUCN SCS framework) to develop a strategy to recover these species in South Africa. Using multi-stakeholder workshops, a team of sciaenid experts, NGOs, managers and researchers developed an action-oriented strategy to recover South African kob stocks to sustainable population levels. Amidst the myriad of direct threats to kob identified, growth and recruitment overfishing by the marine recreational sector is perhaps the most significant. Poor state management, perceived illegitimacy of management agency, inadequate regulations, poor enforcement, increasing non-compliance, declining fear of penalty, poor behavioural norms, poor catch-and-release practices, data-deficiencies and species identification confusion are the significant constraints and drivers of this threat. Whilst the traditional stock-assessment approach to management of the South African Linefishery is suitable for the commercial and small-scale sectors, it has failed to adequately manage the recreational fishery, which is the largest (>450 000 participants). Consequently, alternative management strategies are essential for a swift response to population declines. At the core of strategic actions planned is a Community-Based Social Marketing intervention to promote otherwise unenforceable behaviours to the recreational angling community. Drawing from the latest research on improving angler behaviour, this intervention will use a suite of behaviour change tools including voluntary institutions, social nudges, normative interventions and communication campaigns curated specifically for the user communities adjacent to critical habitats, as well as those groups defined by their style-of-participation.

Abalone is an extremely important fishery to Victoria. It is one of the few remaining wild abalone fisheries in the world and contributes significantly to Victoria’s economy. Over the past two decades, this fishery has experienced two outbreaks of the Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG). AVG is a disease affecting the nervous system of abalone, causing muscle weakness and a very high mortality rate. The 2006 outbreak caused catastrophic damage to wild abalone stocks as well as infiltrating abalone aquaculture facilities. The most recent outbreak was far more contained, largely due to the fast action in mitigating the spread of the virus. Most notably, commercial and recreational fishing restrictions, biosecurity protocols and a comprehensive surveillance dive program were pivotal. Moving forward, limiting and understanding the spread of the virus is critical in containing future outbreaks.

Funding for management actions stems largely from license sales, which have been declining for at least a decade in some regions of the United States. Insight into which segments of the angler population are declining could enable management agencies to create better tailored plans for their customers, increase access to the resource, react to demographic changes, and ultimately increase license sales. We applied the market segment approach to 10 years (2012-2021) of recreational fishing license sale data for census block groups in Indiana, USA. ESRI’s Tapestry segmentation offers spatial data on all neighborhoods in the US, classified by 1 of 67 Life modes dominant in that area. Each Life mode is characterized by behavior preferences, economic characteristics and demographic information. We analyzed temporal trends of annual license sales including dominant Life modes and differentiated by license type (valid for one season, 1 day or 1 week) to identify market segments with specialized behavior. The Identification of areas with fewer license sales than expected, based on the segment makeup of the population, could give insights into barriers, preventing people from fishing. These observations were consistent throughout the state, and showed interesting shifts between rural and more urban areas. With this information the Indiana DNR and other management agencies will be able to more effectively manage the recreational fishing sector, increase the value for participants and improve communication with the Angler community.

In British Columbia, Canada, Chinook salmon populations are in decline, and several are now designated as Endangered and Threatened. Although Chinook salmon are the least abundant species of Pacific salmon, they are the most sought after in the recreational fishery. As a result, catch and release fisheries will play an increasingly important role in fishery management and public fishery opportunities in the future. In partnership with the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia, we undertook a holding study in 2022 to help understand some of the intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms that may affect the physiological state and survival of Chinook salmon following catch and release. While some earlier studies have investigated the impacts of recreational angling on Pacific salmon in freshwater, research on the effects of marine recreational catch and release angling, specifically on Chinook salmon have not been conducted at appropriate time scales and are technologically outdated (20+ years ago). 240 adult and subadult Chinook were captured from June through August using typical marine recreational angling practices and held for up to 14 days in laboratory tanks following capture. Hook type (single vs. treble) and gear type (bait vs. artificial) were the treatments of focus. Physiological status, health and injury were closely monitored, as a means of assessing the latent impacts of specific fishing and release practices on physiology and survival. Use of treble hooks resulted in higher instant mortalities than single hooks. In addition, Chinook that were smaller in body size (<60 cm) had reduced survival. By lessening the physiological impacts through improved fish handling and release practices, it may be possible to enhance the fitness of released fish and enhance the sustainability of the British Columbia public recreational fishery."

Boat-based marine anglers in South Africa target a plethora of imperilled fish species. For this reason, fishing clubs and fishing competition organisers have been put under social pressure to minimise their impacts on these species by implementing catch-and-release fishing (C&R). While C&R may be one way of minimising the impact of the sector on these vulnerable species its efficacy depends on good C&R practices. Using the pro-environmental behaviour approach recommended by Geller (2002). We placed observers on boats during a multi-species fishing competition held in Algoa Bay and collected baseline angler behaviour and fish health information at the inaugural competition held in 2017. We identified several poor behaviours, developed a range of interventions, including an awareness and education campaign, the provision of sponsored circle hooks and the development of barotrauma mitigation videos which were implemented over the following two years. In total 12 species and 128 catch events were recorded in 2017. Following interventions, 16 species and 121 catch events were recorded in 2018 followed by 23 species and 272 catch events in 2021. Hook type and placement, barotrauma symptoms and air exposure were monitored during all catch events. Over the three-year period, approximately 70 % of anglers used circle hooks with a lesser percentage in 2017 (55.4 %) and 2018 (57%) compared to 2021 (81%). Additionally, 72% of all fish captured exhibited signs of barotrauma of which only 12% were released using mitigation techniques, this increased from 1 % (2017 baseline) to 26 % in 2021. Overall air exposure times varied between years with an average of 42s with the lowest air exposure times being from 2021. The finding of this study suggests that a pro-environmental strategy to improve angler C&R behaviour has utility in multiple contexts and provides a suitable framework for improving angler environmental behaviour.

Artificial reefs are increasingly being deployed around the coast of Australia to enhance aquatic habitats and increase fishing experiences and opportunities. In July 2018, the first integrated artificial reef in Australia was deployed in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia. The Exmouth Integrated Artificial Reef (King Reef) combined six large benign steel structures decommissioned from the energy industry, with four types of concrete purpose-built modules. To meet regulatory requirements and to determine the performance and effectiveness of artificial reefs, robust monitoring programs are necessary. Baited remote underwater video systems and remote operated vehicles were used to monitor the fish assemblage on King Reef over time. In addition, recreational fishers also collected footage of fish assemblages through a citizen science program called Reef Vision. Fish assemblages were compared between the reef site and natural habitats, while the habitat performance of the various artificial reef components was also investigated. King Reef experienced rapid colonisation post deployment, exceeding the abundance, species diversity and biomass of fishes observed at natural reef and sand habitats in the Gulf. The repurposed steel structures had the highest mean fish abundance, species diversity and biomass. The reef is now championed by the local recreational fishing community as an example of successful habitat enhancement. It is commonly fished for a range of species including large pelagic gamefish and valued demersal species, with over 100 different fish species observed by the monitoring program over the last four years. King Reef can be studied and showcased as an example of the potential benefits of alternative decommissioning of assets from the energy industry, to the recreational fishing sector nationally and internationally. This presentation explores the efficacy of integrated artificial reefs for the purpose of recreational fishing, detailing the process and potential opportunities for future projects, with a focus on the development of King Reef.

Tasmania has the most liberal recreational gillnetting rules in Australia. Long considered a legitimate means to catch fish, recreational gillnetting has its roots embedded in working class traditions of supplementing family food provisions. However, due to impacts on target and non-target species (including marine mammals and seabirds), the practice has been divisive and controversial, despite progressively more restrictive management in recent decades.

The need to address these concerns was recognised in the 2021 Tasmanian Recreational Sea Fishing Strategy (TRSFS), which included an initiative to phase out all activity by 2030. To do this, a reference group was assembled to develop staged transitional management arrangements. Guiding the process is a need to prioritise impacts to wildlife and vulnerable fish species, prevent additional activity pulses and, where possible, allow time for fishers to receive social and lifestyle benefits associated with netting. The process is also guided by a suite of management principals outlined in the TRSFS.

At the time of writing, transitional management arrangements were being prepared for public consultation. Initial changes being considered included restricting licences to existing licence holders, a gillnet ‘buy-back’ scheme, a large increase in licence fees, activity bans in deep water and shark nursery areas, reduced soak times and compulsory attendance netting.

Towards the end of the transitional period, activity may be restricted to targeting escaped farmed Atlantic Salmon following major escape events. By this stage, we anticipate few remaining licence holders given the potential and cumulative effects of transitional management changes and the infrequency of salmon escape events. At all stages, management changes will be complemented by an engagement campaign to assist fishers to exit the fishery, including transitioning to other gear types.

This presentation will discuss the development of transitional arrangements, public response to changes and challenges encountered.

The Rock Lobster Fishery is the State of Victoria's most valuable fishery. Southern Rock Lobster have a commercial landed catch value in excess of $25 million per annum and are a prized catch among recreational divers. Whilst the commercial catch is subject to quota management and limited access, information on participation and numbers of lobster harvested  by the recreational sector has previously been lacking. On 1 July 2017, the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) implemented an Australia first initiative to overcome the knowledge gap and significantly enhance management of the fishery. Initially, a 3-year rock lobster tagging trial program was introduced requiring all recreationally caught rock lobster to be tagged and reported via an online app. These reporting requirements were retained following the success of the initial trail. The number of tags used each year represents the number of rock lobsters that are removed by the recreational sector from the stock in that year. Additionally, the tagging program is collecting key data to enhance engagement with participants of the recreational fishery, inform management arrangements and improve the accuracy of annual stock assessments. This discussion will focus on the achievements and learnings so far and the next steps in successfully quantifying the annual recreational catch of rock lobster.

Recreational fishing gear continues to evolve, and factors such as anatomical hooking location may change over time due to technology creep. We revisited studies conducted in 1996 by re-examining hooking location in experiments where hard-bodied and soft plastic lures were presented to stripey (Lutjanus carponotatus) and wire netting cod (Epinephelus quoyanus) either with or without application of a synthetic fish attractant. These data were compared to those of fish hooked on organic bait using circle or J-style hooks. Lure type and application of attractant both significantly affected hooking location. Addition of attractant to hard-bodied lures reduced foul hooking of both species. For L. carponotatus, soft plastic lures both with and without attractant tended to be taken deeper than hard-bodied lures. For E. quoyanus captured on soft plastic lures coated with attractant, hooking locations were similar to those using organic baits on circle hooks. However, deepest hooking of both species occurred using organic bait on J-style hooks. The use of soft plastic lures with an effective fish attractant may result in deeper hooking, which could potentially influence post-release survival and increase fishing power.

Resource sharing between stakeholders is an important consideration in fisheries management to ensure sustainability and equitable access. Informed decision making requires an understanding of the use of the resource by stakeholders, with fishing effort and catch data the traditional measures used for this process. Data from commercial fishers are generally obtained via mandatory reporting, thereby providing a census of fishing activity, whilst recreational data are generally based on surveys which have measures of uncertainty. More recently, contemporary metrics, which consider the varying social aspects of resource use by stakeholders, are also being considered in the allocation process. Blue Swimmer Crabs (Portunus armatus) are distributed across nearshore and estuarine habitats in Western Australian waters and are one of the most commonly harvested species statewide. The stock structure of this species varies across these habitats, which have limited connectivity, and are therefore managed as separate, small-scale fisheries with varying management arrangements (i.e. size limits, bag limits, temporal closures). This diversity makes these fisheries useful case studies for exploring resource allocation based on both traditional and contemporary measures. Small-scale estimates for the recreational sector were determined from five statewide Phone Diary Surveys and compared with commercial data from the same time periods (2011/12 – 2020/21). The proportion of recreational to commercial activity in these fisheries range from predominantly commercial (Shark Bay) to recreational-only (Hardy Inlet). Of the fisheries where multiple sectors operate, the largest recreational fisheries occur near the heavily populated Perth Metropolitan area (Swan Canning Rivers) and regional locations (Peel Harvey Estuary, Geographe Bay). Importantly, recreational fishers in the Metropolitan fishery are mostly local residents, while in regional fisheries they are both local and non-local residents. Both traditional catch and contemporary social objectives varied across fisheries and provide an important understanding of recreational fishing that can inform future resource allocation processes.

Artificial reefs are increasingly being deployed around the coast of Australia to enhance aquatic habitats and increase fishing experiences and opportunities. In July 2018, the first integrated artificial reef in Australia was deployed in Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia. The Exmouth Integrated Artificial Reef (King Reef) combined six large benign steel structures decommissioned from the energy industry, with four types of concrete purpose-built modules. To meet regulatory requirements and to determine the performance and effectiveness of artificial reefs, robust monitoring programs are necessary. Baited remote underwater video systems and remote operated vehicles were used to monitor the fish assemblage on King Reef over time. In addition, recreational fishers also collected footage of fish assemblages through a citizen science program called Reef Vision. Fish assemblages were compared between the reef site and natural habitats, while the habitat performance of the various artificial reef components was also investigated. King Reef experienced rapid colonisation post deployment, exceeding the abundance, species diversity and biomass of fishes observed at natural reef and sand habitats in the Gulf. The repurposed steel structures had the highest mean fish abundance, species diversity and biomass. The reef is now championed by the local recreational fishing community as an example of successful habitat enhancement. It is commonly fished for a range of species including large pelagic gamefish and valued demersal species, with over 100 different fish species observed by the monitoring program over the last four years. King Reef can be studied and showcased as an example of the potential benefits of alternative decommissioning of assets from the energy industry, to the recreational fishing sector nationally and internationally. This presentation explores the efficacy of integrated artificial reefs for the purpose of recreational fishing, detailing the process and potential opportunities for future projects, with a focus on the development of King Reef.

It is well understood that developing countries like South Africa typically lag far behind much of the developed world when it comes to effective recreational fisheries governance. While the efficacy of the management of South Africa’s recreational fishery scored higher than many other developing countries based on a desktop review of policy documents from Potts et al. (2019), the implementation of these policies is what ensures effective governance. After a review of documentation requested from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (DFFE) and key interviews with senior officials from the agency, the picture of marine recreational fisheries management in South Africa appears much less auspicious than a desktop review would indicate. It’s evident that how policy appears on paper is far removed from policies actioned by the agency tasked with managing the fishery. This presentation examines the efficacy of policy implementation and identifies several issues including the mismanagement of angling license fees, no defined management plan, and no cooperative management processes. These serious deficiencies are concerning, particularly since this fishery sector has the highest rate of participation of any in the country and competes directly with the commercial and small-scale sectors. The drivers, consequences and potential remedies for this poor governance are discussed in the context of recreational fisheries worldwide.

Marine recreational fishing (MRF) activities are difficult to monitor and control due to the heterogeneity of the practices and their seasonality, the diversity of their locations and the nomadism’ of the users. The success of MRF monitoring and surveillance systems is often limited by a lack of trust and buy-in from fishers. Most of the data systems are top-down and lack feedback between fishers and fisheries authorities, which creates mistrust and disincentivises fishers to provide accurate information.

Fishers Apps have been identified by stakeholders as a potential solution for efficiently collecting data from MRF and improving control. As an easy-to-deploy solution on a large scale, fishers’ mobile Apps have the potential to fundamentally change how fishers interact with the resource and how the resource is managed. Mobile apps can help change fishermen's behaviour by facilitating the transfer of information in near real time, and help ensure compliance by improving the connection and engagement of fishermen through data sharing and social networks.

The integrated European catch reporting system, RecFishing.eu, deployed by the pilot project proved that there are no major technical barriers to the implementation of such a Fishers’ App monitoring and control scheme. A common database was chosen as the best solution to bring together European data from independent fishers’ apps, based on a standard dataset for reporting catches and fishing sessions. The reporting dataset implemented in the Fishers’ App specifies a minimum data standard for catches, and some optional fields (e.g. fishing sessions). An advantage of the platform is that the fishers use commonly available logbook applications as an interface, which are available to suit their regional differences, including languages, modes of interaction, and specific features such as social, feed, challenges, forecast, statistics which boost engagement and engage in reporting program.

Yellowtail Kingfish (Seriola lalandi) are a large, pelagic, highly mobile species of considerable commercial and recreational importance in Australia. The “Eastern Australia” stock, recognised to be genetically distinct from the West Australian population, spans several fisheries jurisdictions in southern and eastern Australia, however empirical movement data to inform stock structure at an ecologically-relevant time frame are currently limited. In this study, we describe distribution and connectivity patterns of the Eastern Australia kingfish stock using over 40,000 tagged and released kingfish and 3,000 subsequent recaptures spanning 1973-2022 as part of the New South Wales (NSW) Game Fish Tagging Program, the world’s longest-lived, citizen-science saltwater recreational fishing tagging program. Broad-scale network analysis of 337 tagged kingfish revealed connectivity across five main bioregions across coastal and offshore southern and eastern Australia, as well as New Zealand (NZ). Connectivity also exists between state fishery jurisdictions, with extensive movements (n = 76) identified between NSW, South Australia (SA), Queensland, Victoria and NZ. Seasonal variability was evident in both releases and recaptures, with most states having a higher proportion of kingfish caught, tagged and released in summer and autumn. Whilst spawning-sized kingfish (>83 cm fork length) were consistently caught and recaptured by recreational anglers in NSW waters, strong seasonality was evident for kingfish in SA, that exhibited both broad-scale connectivity with NSW as well as yearly spring availability in coastal SA. In contrast, juvenile kingfish (<50 cm FL) were mostly tagged in NSW and during summer months. Despite broad-scale coastal and offshore movements recorded, most individuals were recaptured within 5km and 60 days of their release location, indicating some degree of site fidelity. Our findings provide important new insights into the structure and connectivity of the Eastern Australian kingfish stock and highlight the need for multiple fisheries jurisdictions to collaborate in managing this stock.

Many multisector fisheries are adopting formal allocation of catch shares for recreational, commercial and customary sectors to provide recreational fishing experiences, seafood to domestic consumers and recognition of First Nations peoples. Sectoral catch allocations for the West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource in Western Australia were established in 2012. This resource includes multiple species across large spatial and temporal scales with recreational catches dominated by West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum), pink snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), baldchin groper (Choerodon rubescens) and breaksea cod (Epinephelides armatus). After accounting for customary harvest, catch shares were allocated to the commercial (64%) and recreational (36%) sectors. We present a synthesis of the development, implementation and reviews for management of the recreational sector over the last 20 years and outline future directions. There have been three critical points for this fishery. Firstly, a stock assessment in 2007 identified reductions in catch of at least 50% of 2005/06 levels were required to allow stock recovery. Following consultation and evaluation, regulations were adjusted to include seasonal closures, and size and possession limits. Secondly, management strategies expanded from catch-objectives to include ecological, social and economic objectives and a formal Harvest Strategy was developed in mid 2021. Thirdly, a stock assessment in late 2021 identified recovery was slower than anticipated, therefore a further 50% reduction in catch limits was proposed. A second consultation and evaluation process identified primary and supporting measures to achieve this reduction and recover the resource. Revised management arrangements consider short-term objectives, such as control rules, and long-term objectives that might require new strategies and/or changes to regulations. This synthesis highlights the importance of monitoring sectoral catch, credible scientific data, formal allocation processes, robust co-management and flexible management arrangements to ensure all sectors can access their allocated share.

Recreational Fishing peak bodies are often at the intersection of resource users for profit and the wider community. Our voice is an important one when decisions are being made when determining resources use and returns to community.
To ensure that contribution is informed by science, considered, and balanced means that recreational peak bodies need to be robust, secure and have sufficient capacity to participate, and therefore improve understanding of, and increase community benefits from, fishing and aquaculture. Fair and participatory management approaches are needed, and recreational peak bodies play a vital role in delivering that outcome.
The objective of the presentation is to inform participants of insights gained through examination of three recreational fishing peak bodies in Australia using different models of operation and which identifies:
• the combination of organisational and external/other factors that lead to the success of the specific model;
• the organisational and external risks that may act as a barrier to successful models of operation; and, where possible,
• pathways and critical success factors when moving from one model of operation to another
The outcome of the presentation is to provide participants with an understanding of the drivers of successful peak body models in order to better meet the needs of recreational fisher participants.

Sea trout caught around the Swedish island of Gotland have a reputation for being relatively large and of wild origin, and anglers anticipate these factors as part of their fishing experience. This study investigates the relationships among anglers’ expectations and behaviour, the real size distribution and origin of catches, as well as the characteristics of fish entering streams to spawn. These relationships have the potential to influence the outcomes of management interventions in this fishery in terms of their biological effectiveness, impacts on angler utility, and angler compliance with regulations. Data was collected though a creel survey of anglers, test fishing, and fish traps monitoring several spawning streams. Analysis of this data showed that anglers accurately anticipated the proportion of catches that would be over the minimum size limit (50 cm), but underestimated the contribution of natural reproduction to the fishery. Anglers’ visual estimates of catch length were relatively accurate, particularly with respect to correctly classifying fish below the minimum size limit, indicating a low potential for involuntary noncompliance with this management intervention. Female sea trout entering spawning streams and post spawn sea trout caught on the coast were significantly larger than spawning males and unspawned angling catches. Current angler preferences focus a degree of harvest pressure on these larger size classes of sea trout. Furthermore, as over 20% of angling catches were active as part of the spawning population it can be predicted that small changes to harvest preferences or regulations could have large influences on reproductive potential in this fishery. The results of this study emphasize the importance of maintaining the proportion of large female sea trout in this stock to support both the biological and social needs of this system.

Biography: 
Samuel Blyth is a PhD candidate in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development at Uppsala University in Sweden. His current research focuses on questions around the application of catch and release as part of fishery management tools, and the characteristics and behaviours of different angler groups in multi-species fisheries. In the past Samuel has worked with a diverse range of topics including investigating the links between mangrove ecosystem services and human well-being, biological monitoring of locally managed marine areas, and innovative upcycling of organic waste streams.

Electronic citizen science platforms, often in combination with smartphone applications, has been highlighted in recent years as a potential tool in management of recreational fisheries. This apply to data collection for research and management and as a tool to educate and inform anglers. One such platform is the Danish electronic citizen science platform Fangstjournalen developed by DTU Aqua and launched in 2016. Since then, some 14.500 participants have signed up for the platform and registered approximately 65.000 fishing trips. Here we present the main results from a recent synthesis that evaluated aspects of participation (recruitment and retention) and data quality of the Fangstjournalen platform. Main challenges relate to participation, e.g., the inability to recruit participants from certain recreational fisheries and, across fisheries, participants that are representative of the general angling population. Despite this, data quality evaluations also indicate that data in several cases was good, i.e. similar to that of traditional survey methods. Further, the citizen science approach makes it possible to explore management topics that traditional survey methods would not have allowed for.

Pacific salmon face a gauntlet of fishing gear as they migrate from oceanic feeding grounds to natal spawning sites, and while millions of fish typically are harvested each year in British Columbia, a variable portion of all species escape from gear or are intentionally released. Many recreational fisheries in the North Pacific are adopting more catch-and-release approaches using slot limits, size restraints, or hatchery-selective regulations to help ensure more sustainable populations. It is not well known how catch and release affects the survival of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), the most highly desired salmon by anglers in British Columbia. From 2021-2022, we used acoustic telemetry, PIT tagging and temperature loggers to link the thermal experience of 500+ angled and released adult Chinook salmon in Barkley Sound, British Columbia, to their migration rates and survival to spawning grounds. These fish were captured and tagged in the ocean, and after release they were tracked from the release location, down a narrow inlet to their natal river estuary, and up the river to their spawning grounds. Fight time, reflex, blood loss, wound, eye damage, fin condition, and scale loss assessments were performed following various air exposure and net use treatments once fish were captured. Of Chinook salmon tagged with acoustic transmitters, 87% were detected in the inlet, 73% made it from the inlet to the lower river, and 7% made it to spawning grounds. This system is hatchery enhanced system and had high levels of harvest with 60+ tags with ibutton temperature loggers returned from anglers and commercial fishermen. Fish that made through the inlet had low levels to moderate hook-related eye damage (2%) and were not landed with a net. Salmon frequently encountered >21 °C in the riverine migration, and high thermal exposure likely contributed to poor survival to spawning grounds.

Snapper is an iconic fish species in South Australia and a primary target species for the commercial, recreational and charter boat fishing sectors. On 1 November 2019 the decision was made to close Snapper fishing to all sectors in the West Coast, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent/Kangaroo Island Fishing Zones as a result of depleted stock levels and sustainability concerns. As the South-East Fishing Zone is considered a separate biological stock, Snapper fishing remained open for all sectors under revised management arrangements.

As part of a review of the management arrangements for the fishery, mechanisms to allow for comprehensive and inclusive consultation with stakeholders to ensure an equitable level of access to the constricted fishery were formed. In combination with the existing legislative frameworks, the fisheries management decision-making process was driven through consultation to ensure the acknowledgement of the stakeholders, and rights holders of a critical South Australian community-owned fishery resource.

Over three seasons several management arrangements were implemented and trialled across the commercial, recreational and charter boat sectors. The provision and commitment to adaptive fishery management arrangements in the South-East Snapper fishery brought with it its own challenges in realising several risks, constraints and vulnerabilities.

Here we provide an overview of the adaptive management arrangements implemented to negotiate stakeholder needs and expectations in the South-East Fishing Zone Snapper Fishery. This case study provides an opportunity to reflect on a modern example of consultation-driven resource sharing of an iconic species.

Combining angler stewardship with the co-production of scientific knowledge can lead to sustainable fishing tourism, economic prosperity, and positive conservation outcomes. For our talk, we highlight a unique grassroots angler-inspired collaboration in the Alphonse Island Group, Republic of the Seychelles between a for-profit fly-fishing company, a local non-governmental organization, and multiple academic partners. Collectively, these efforts have resulted in a code of conduct for the catch-and-release of target species. This has further served as the foundation for additional knowledge co-production and evidence-based management for the most sought-after species: giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis), milkfish (Chanos chanos), Indo-Pacific permit (Trachinotus blochii), triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens and Pseudobalistes flavimarginatus), and bonefish (Albula glossodonta). We report the results from multiple co-produced and ongoing research projects. Fishing guides with handheld GPS units provided long-term georeferenced catch counts, a proxy for angling pressure. A guide-implemented mark-and-recapture study provided giant trevally survival rates and relative population size estimates. Data from tri-axial accelerometers attached to giant trevally, as well as data from blood samples taken from milkfish, helped to assess post-release behaviors and physiological changes, respectively. Observational data informed post-release mortality rates for bonefish. Finally, using acoustic telemetry, we determined the effects of temporary fishing closures for giant trevally. Collectively, these multiple co-produced research projects exemplify how cooperative initiatives can effectively lead to formal co-management structures in recreational fishing. In addition, they help to build capacity in government agencies for advancing economic prosperity while establishing sound long-term management and conservation strategies.

Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is an ecological key species and an important recreational and commercial fishery target species in the Baltic Sea. The western Baltic cod stock has been in a generally poor state in the past decade with the spawning stock biomass below the reference points and consistently low recruitment. After strong annual reductions of commercial TACs a substantial proportion of the cod biomass removal was attributed to recreational fishing. Consequently, a bag limit for the recreational fishery was introduced to protect the cod stock.

Using the example of the German western Baltic recreational cod fishery, our study examines the effects of the first-time introduction of a bag limit on a previously largely unregulated marine recreational fishery. The introduced bag limit led to a significantly greater reduction of the cod removals as expected and to an increase of the releases. Additionally, the angler participation rate decreased and the distribution of fishing days over the year changed. However, non-compliance with the regulation was low.

Furthermore, the study simulates and compares the effects of different bag limits, seasonal closures, minimum length, and harvest slot limits to inform scientists, stakeholders, and managers about the effects of alternative management strategies on the fishery. The study was able to show that the measures result in different removal reductions, but also that the measures differ in their acceptance in the angling community and in their effects on the length distribution and recruitment of cod. A combination of a high bag limit, seasonal closure, and size/slot limits was most suitable for limiting cod removals with minimal impacts on angler welfare. The study demonstrates that recreational fisheries management measures need to be evaluated considering fishing methods and angler preferences and heterogeneity before their implementation to avoid unexpected biological, social, and economic consequences.

A common problem in our understanding of how society uses marine resources is the lack of spatially explicit recreational fishing catch data. In the U.S., NOAA Fisheries’ Marine Recreational Information Program produces species-level catch estimates for state territorial seas (extending three nautical miles from shore) and the federal exclusive economic zone (contiguous to all state territorial seas, extending seaward 200 nautical miles), but these estimates are inadequate to meet current and future demands for fine-scale spatial assessments of recreational catch.

In this study, we use a novel dataset to start to fill that knowledge gap. We employ spatial scan statistics on data from Fish Rules, a smartphone app that provides georeferenced species-level regulations, to assess if clusters of Fish Rules app usage offshore are indicative of species-specific offshore recreational fishing locations. Originally developed for epidemiological studies of disease clusters, the Kulldorf circular scan statistic employed in this study uses a Bernoulli likelihood ratio test to assess the size, number, and significance of clusters in presence/absence data for key recreational species caught in the Northeast U.S. To corroborate our findings, we compare significant Fish Rules clusters to fine-scale location and catch data collected from recreational for-hire boat logbooks. Additionally, we compare our results to geo-coded catch log data obtained from Fish Brain, another popular recreational fishing app.

While our research is preliminary, our results are promising and the approach provides a novel and low-cost method for identifying where in the ocean anglers are catching specific species.

Recreational fishing is often the most popular use of marine fish populations in industrialized countries and is sometimes associated with high value fishing tourism activities, some of which practice ‘catch and release’ (C&R) of specific target species. Such fisheries have recently been promoted as examples of sustainable ecotourism due to their low impact. One fishing method where fishers often practice C&R is saltwater fly fishing (SWFF), which is a highly technical and challenging pursuit. Therefore, SWFF guides often operate lucrative fishing charters for fishers that seek specific target species to C&R. Nevertheless, few scholarly works have documented the ecological and economic effect that are specific to ‘saltwater fly fisheries’ or the social aspects of SWFF. In the last 30 years, Queensland, Australia has hosted a developing SWFF charter fishery, spearheaded by fly fishing guides. The development of this fishery is mostly undocumented and there is a need to gather both ecological and social information if the fishery is to be managed sustainably. The aim of this project was to document the extent, operational characteristics, and diverse values of the saltwater fly fishery in Queensland through fishers’ knowledge in semi-structured interviews, working with SWFF guides and clients as key experts. SWFF was consistently described as a sustainable, low consumptive, specialised and visual method of recreational fishing that nurtures environmental awareness and thinking. Fishers were motivated by experiences such as the challenge and the comradery, and often satisfied by the opportunity to catch fish. SWFF has high economic value and potential, but SWFF guides perceive numerous limitations and threats to the fishery; such as being overlooked by management, negative effects from commercial fishing, and shark depredation. In the future, collaborating with SWFF fishers may prove a sustainable opportunity for management since SWFF fishers can influence other Queensland fishers with voluntary C&R practices.

Traditional (non-commercial) fishing in the Torres Strait has, and continues to be, an important part of the livelihoods of Islander communities, providing nutritional, social and spiritual benefits. Recreational fishing (non-commercial fishing by non-Torres Strait Islanders) also has a growing impact on fished resources. The long-term sustainability of all fisheries in the Torres Strait requires reliable catch data from all sectors, including commercial and non-commercial (Traditional and recreational). This data is not only a priority for key commercial species, such as Spanish mackerel, coral trout and rock lobster, but also for many other traditionally-fished species that communities rely on. Catches from the commercial sectors have monitoring programs in place and these data contribute to assessments that are central to fishery management decisions. However, catches from the non-commercial sectors are poorly monitored and understood, despite making up a substantial part of total catches. There have been a range of one-off catch surveys for the Traditional fishery in recent decades. However, there is no ongoing monitoring program and no suitable data collection for over 10 years . Current non-commercial fishery monitoring in the Torres Strait is limited to remote survey effort as part of the Queensland recreational fishing survey, however, this survey does not provide reliable estimates for Torres Strait Traditional or recreational catch. Consequently, there is a strong need to improve catch monitoring for sustainable management and ensure food security needs for Traditional livelihoods. Here, we report on a recently completed scoping project to develop an approach for monitoring non-commercial fishing in Torres Strait, and future plans for implementing a Torres Strait wide community co-designed, cost-effective monitoring program for the non-commercial sectors, based on a self-reporting web-based/APP platform.

Marine recreational fishing is a passion for many New Zealanders. Despite this, traditional fishing clubs have struggled to maintain membership as fishers found communities and advice online. In 2012, the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council launched LegaSea, a public outreach vehicle with the aim of elevating public awareness of the issues impacting our fisheries and marine environment. Critical first steps - develop a strong brand and online presence, encourage people to subscribe (for free) to the LegaSea database, provide updates on relevant issues, and pathways to influence fisheries management decisions.

Four main workstreams were developed:
- Advocacy. Engage in formal fisheries management processes and create tools for thousands of fishers to have their say on key issues.
- Research. Contribute to marine research planning and fisheries monitoring projects. Conduct surveys of fisher perceptions.
- Education. Produce well informed articles for online and traditional media. Projects include: FishCare – The school of best practice for fishing, handling and fully utilising catch. The Kai Ika Project - Collecting under-valued fish heads and frames to share with local communities who revere them as a food source.
- Alignment. Working with other organisations to rebuild depleted fisheries and reduce peoples’ collective impact on the marine environment.

LegaSea is an independent not for profit organisation. 100% of public proceeds contribute to core LegaSea workstreams, while administration and logistics are funded by partners and sponsorships. A fresh approach and building the online brand have been critical to engaging recreational fishers, partners and other stakeholders. The style and substance of projects such as FishCare and Kai Ika apply Polynesian cultural values to harvesting fish, in a way that enriches the lives of those involved. Respect for our diverse, multicultural population has seen these mutually beneficial projects flourish. Everyone benefits through the advocacy for higher abundance, waste minimisation and healthier marine ecosystems.

Most of the marine protected areas consist of partially protected areas (PPAs) that are open to some form of recreational or commercial fishing activity. For example, 75% of Australian marine protected areas are PPAs (Roberts et al., 2020). Resource managers must balance environmental, economic, and socio-cultural values of multiple users, which is challenging given that the values of some of these benefits, such as recreational fishing, are not readily quantified or easily understood. This study will discuss the findings from the first part of a wider FRDC-funded project on multiple values of Australian MPAs. This includes the results of a detailed review of environmental, economic, and socio-cultural values in Australian marine protected areas, including gaps in existing knowledge. Critically, it will outline a discussion of the prevailing frameworks utilised to encapsulate these values, with advantages and limitations to facilitating management. Finally, a roadmap will be presented of the next phase of the wider project, which involves extensive consultation with resource managers of two distinct case studies, to understand (1) the differences in key values, (2) how this impacts the establishment of PPAs, (3) evaluation of PPAs against multiple use objectives, and (4) how these may inform adaptive management strategies. The socialisation of this first phase will provide context and information to relevant stakeholders of the multiple values of marine PPAs and provide further avenues for discussion on management approaches that aim for fairness and flexible arrangements through the development of appropriate decision-making tools.

Roberts, K. E., Hill, O., Cook, C. N. (2020). Evaluating perceptions of marine protection in Australia: Does policy match public expectation? Marine Policy 112: 103766"

Digital technology is becoming widely adopted in the recreational sector to collect real-time data with greater community engagement. The ease and appeal of digital technology needs to partner with probability-based sampling to select representative samples of the target population where estimates of harvest are required. Off-site telephone-recall surveys have been used to estimate annual fishing participation, effort and catch for two licensed recreational-only fisheries in south-west Western Australia since 2000 across spatially dispersed watercourses with multiple, remote access points. A fishery-specific licence for freshwater angling involving four finfish species, and a species-specific licence for smooth marron (Cherax cainii), provide sampling frames for these surveys. Comparative studies were conducted to understand potential biases associated with digital approaches: a smartphone-app survey for freshwater angling (with an invitation to participate via telephone); and a web-based survey for marron fishing (with an invitation to participate via email and SMS). Response rates were lower for digital modes (65% for angling and 64% for marron) compared with the telephone (99% for both angling and marron). However, higher proportions of licenced fishers completing digital modes (64% for angling and 71% for marron) had utilised their licence compared with the telephone (48% for angling and 54% for marron). Although there were differences in fisher demographics between survey modes, there were many similarities in fishing activity. For example, for freshwater angling, distributions of kept and released catches of redfin perch (Perca fluviatilis) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were similar for digital and telephone modes. These case studies evaluate the impact of digital technology on data quality and survey estimation, which is important when considering the transition to digital survey methods. Such evaluations will ensure surveys continue to support fishery management and sustainability of resources under threat from non-fishing related causes, such as environmental variability and habitat loss.

Catch-and-release angling is becoming increasingly popular worldwide and occurs across various environmental conditions. Fish are sometimes released to comply with management regulations such as size restrictions and seasonal closures, or due to personal conservation efforts. Often anglers release fish with the assumption that the fish survive the angling interaction with negligible impacts on their fitness. Recently, biologgers have been used to understand how various fish handling practices employed by anglers influences the on the post-release behaviour of fish. Biologgers can be secured to the fish with a Velcro harness with a line attached to it that can be removed after a pre-determined monitoring period duration or a biologging package is secured to fish with a dissolvable link allowing the biologging package to be retrieved after the monitoring period. Further, these biologgers can record fine scale data and records the post-release locomotor activity, water temperature and depth selection of fish. Generally, locomotor activity decreases with increasing time post-release and depth use post-release increases with time during the monitoring period. However, water temperature used by fish during the post-release period differs by the season. During the open water season (i.e., summer), fish tend to seek cooler water as time post-release increases while fish released from an ice-angling event seek warmer water temperatures with increasing time post-release. Overall, the air exposure duration, environmental conditions and handling method influence the locomotor activity, depth use, and water temperature use during the post-release period. Collectively these findings are important for determining the best fish handling practices that anglers and fisheries managers can use to maximize fish welfare during catch-and-release angling events.

Natural capital concepts are becoming more widely understood, and there is growing interest in use of the approach in a range of marine policy and management contexts from local byelaws and protected areas to marine plans and fisheries strategies. However, each context has different needs, opportunities and challenges that vary with factors including the specific objectives, temporal and spatial scales, the data and resources available, the existing legislative framework, and the capacity of stakeholders and partnerships. It is essential, therefore, that a range of different applications are considered when developing methods, guidance and tools for the practical application of the natural capital approach, to ensure that these are robust and fit for purpose. In this study, the full suite of services and benefits provided by the commercial and recreational sea bass fisheries was mapped using a natural capital framework, particularly in terms of how these can provide an uplift to coastal communities, and quantitative and qualitative evidence on the scale of the associated values were compiled. A systems model has been extended to provide information that can be included in the framework alongside semi-quantitative information on wider cultural and health and well-being benefits. Different policy measure that change future stock sizes as well as the accrued benefits from harvesting the stock by commercial and recreational sea bass fisheries were assessed. The outputs of this work will be discussed in the context of the development of UK Fisheries Management Plans and efforts to conserve natural capital.

Recreational sea angling is an invaluable source for participants' physical activity, health, and wellbeing, and can also provide an opportunity to connect with the natural environment, which promotes better health and wellbeing. In the UK, the COVID-19 pandemic which restricted anglers' participation in 2020, showed an overall reduction in sea anglers' physical activity, health and wellbeing. To investigate generally 1. How much sea angling contributes to participants’ weekly moderate exercise; 2. The impacts of sea angling on health and wellbeing, were determined using the World Health Organisation Five Well-being Index (WHO-5) we used a survey targeted at a diary panel of UK sea anglers and a larger database of known sea angling participants. In the survey, we also collected other data such as the Nature Connection Index (NCI), the Serious Leisure Inventory Measure (SLIM) to determine how serious individuals take sea angling as a form of leisure and the Flow Short Scale which determines the fluency of performance score and absorption by activity scores. We found that sea angling contributes on average 13 minutes of moderate physical activity per week to each participant. We found that respondents had high scores of NCI, SLIM and Flow. We also found that there was a significant increase in WHO-5 score when individuals reflected on their last sea angling session in comparison to the last two weeks. The variables, such as demographics, NCI, SLIM and Flow which could predict the impact of WHO-5 when sea angling will be modelled to further understand the impacts of sea angling on health and wellbeing.

Prior to some foundational reports in the late 20th century, little attention was paid to the national policies, health, or governance in Canada’s freshwater fisheries. In recent decades, there has been relatively little research on the above-mentioned policies and governance, despite declines in said fisheries and freshwater biodiversity worldwide. Using expert and chain-referral sampling, we surveyed practitioners from all provinces, territories, and regions in Canada about the nation-wide management and administration of freshwater fisheries. Our mixed methods (i.e., questionnaire, interview) approach worked to identify and describe in detail many important aspects of the above processes. We identify and describe ten persistent and innate challenges (in descending order, beginning with the most frequently discussed) in (1) bureaucratic sprawl, (2) lack of priority, (3) scope, (4) competing interests, (5) political instability, (6) socio-ecological complexity, (7) limited tools, (8) geographies and scale, (9) reactivity, and (10) intersectoral frictions. For numerous reasons, these challenges often defy conventional problem solving methods (e.g., advocacy, basic science). We also identify and describe two key phenomena in chronic incapacity and triage management, which help to explain the current position and perils of freshwater fisheries in Canada and beyond. Using these insights, we provide recommendations for capacity building in Canada’s freshwater fisheries, paying special attention to the non-negotiable and negotiable elements of these systems.

Climate change is having both direct and indirect impacts on the distribution and relative abundance of freshwater fishes. Climate-induced changes in game fish populations may be reflected in data from smartphone applications that anglers can use to log their catches. We applied generalized linear mixed-effects models to data from a popular fishing app to identify spatiotemporal trends in game fish catches throughout the contiguous United States from 2015 to 2021. Results were largely consistent with observed or expected responses to climate change. For example, warm-water species became more common than cool-water species in catches – especially in the Great Lakes region, the Northeast, and parts of the West Coast. Single-species analyses detected increases for Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), and decreases for Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), Northern Pike (Esox lucius), and Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Results were mixed for Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) with most decreasing trends occurring at southern range boundaries, and most increasing trend occurring further north or in the non-native portions of their range. Although our results may be explained by alternative phenomena that operate or interact at similarly large spatial scales (e.g., cultural eutrophication or changes in the relative popularity of game fishes), climate change remains a viable hypothesis. Future work should focus on refining the use of app data to monitor game fish responses to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors at multiple spatial scales - especially as more data becomes available.

While there is always risk of injury or death to fish during catch-and-release (C&R) events, the likelihood is heightened when angling from great depths. Without enough time to diffuse air from their swim bladders, deep water physoclistous fish can exhibit symptoms of barotrauma, which can be further exacerbated when affected fish are held at surface pressure for some time - as in angling tournaments or culling events. C&R anglers often attempt to alleviate barotrauma symptoms using various techniques in the hopes of maximising post-release survival. In this study, we tested the effectiveness of four barotrauma relief techniques: 1) swim bladder venting using a needle, 2) weighted hook descender, 3) SeaQualizer lip clamp descender, and 4) weighted crate descender. We angled walleye (Sander vitreus) from depths ranging from 7.5-10.5 meters and assessed fish for severity of barotrauma immediately and after a 30-minute holding period. To evaluate post-release behaviour and depth selection, we equipped each fish with a biologger containing a tri-axial accelerometer for 10-minutes. In general, fish angled from deeper water had more advanced barotrauma symptoms and higher levels of reflex impairment. Preliminary results show that vented fish had a 100% success rate of returning to and staying at depth, both crate and hook descenders had an 86% success rate, and the SeaQualizer had 50% success. No untreated control fish were able to swim down. Within fish that remained at depth, 48% lost orientation and were upside down during the entire 10-minute post-release period. Again, vented fish had significantly higher chances (80%) of remaining in the correct orientation at depth compared to the other relief methods. Our research shows that the best way to prevent negative outcomes of barotrauma is to avoid fishing at depths, however if unavoidable, affected fish should be vented for the best chance of survival.

Biography: 
Jamie is a Master's student studying post-angling stress of game fish at Carleton University under Steven Cooke and Andy Danylchuk. Her research interests include freshwater fisheries management, best practices in catch-and-release angling, and fish behaviour and stress response. She completed her undergraduate degree in her home town of Montreal at McGill University.

Recent developments in British Columbia exemplify the issues involved in attempting to define and differentiate the competing interests of fish harvesters. In BC, Indigenous representatives have attempted to define the sharing issue as a difference between “rights” and “privileges”. They assert that their harvest is based on constitutional rights while other Canadians harvest fish as a privilege granted by government. BC anglers don’t challenge the Indigenous priority to harvest fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes as laid out in Section 35 of the Canadian constitution. This priority is a sensible recognition of the historical fact that indigenous people were utilizing fisheries resources long before the arrival of European settlers. Anglers do challenge the notion that public access to the fishery is a privilege conferred by government. ""Settlers” brought to Canada harvest access rights that stem from the Magna Carta assertion that fish are common property. According to the courts, “It has been unquestioned law that since Magna Carta no new exclusive fishery could be created by Royal grant in tidal waters, and that no public right of fishing in such waters, then existing, can be taken away, without competent legislation… their Lordships entertain no doubt that this is part of the law of British Columbia.”

The situation is complicated by treaty rights. Unfortunately, past Canadian governments neglected to formalize colonization through the signing of treaties with Indigenous communities. The problem for anglers is that they have been excluded from participation in the modern treaty process. What have been termed “government-to-government” negotiations have not allowed effective observation or oversight by other harvesters. Anglers want greater transparency as public servants try to reconcile the inevitable conflict between the Crown’s historical obligations to indigenous peoples and the responsibility of parliament and cabinet to represent the interests of all Canadians.

As a practical matter, this issue is now under active scrutiny in BC with announcement of a new process to revise the allocation policy for salmon that has been in place since 1998. Will anglers accept as fair the results of a process which places considerable reliance on closed door meetings between government officials and indigenous representatives?

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the influence of several psychological factors shaping anglers’ practice of clean, drain, dry in freshwater ecosystems within the western U.S. The U.S. clean, drain, dry messaging campaign is one of several messaging strategies aimed at shaping boater behavior to help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS). Key behaviors of focus include the cleaning of watercraft before leaving water access, draining motors, bilges, livewells etc. before leaving water access, and drying watercraft for 5-7 days before entering another waterbody. Boaters’ (self) reported implementation of clean, drain, dry over the previous 12 months was modeled to be influenced by several latent psychological constructs;
1. Perceived effectiveness of clean, drain, dry for preventing the spread of AIS;
2. Perceived difficulty of undertaking clean, drain, dry;
3. Perceived frequency of other boaters’ implementation of clean, drain, dry (i.e., descriptive norm);
4. Respondents’ perceived expectation that other boaters feel they ought to clean, drain, dry (i.e., injunctive norm); and
5. Extent to which respondents’ feel a personal obligation to undertake clean, drain, dry (i.e., personal norm).
Data (N=3,900) were collected from boaters/anglers from 19 western states in January through March of 2022. Latent variable modeling was used to examine the influence of the constructs on boater behavior. We also examined variation in the coefficients among several key boating groups; recreational anglers, tournament anglers, wake sports participants, pleasure cruisers, and hunters. Findings revealed that all predictors of respondents’ clean drain drive behavior were statistically significant. Perceived effectiveness and the difficulty of undertaking clean, drain, dry were the strongest predictors. We also observed variation in the strength of the effect of the predictors among activity types. We discuss the implications of our findings for management within the context of U.S. inland waterways.

The European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a high value fish with significant exploitation by both commercial and recreational fisheries. Scientific assessments of the northern stock have shown a rapid decline in the spawning stock biomass attributed to poor recruitment and high fishing mortality, and significant reductions in the harvest of seabass have been implemented by the European Commission to conserve stocks. Individual-based models (IBMs) are simulations of individual ‘agents’ of organisms that interact with each other and their environment locally and have been shown to be effective management tools in many systems. Here we present a spatio-temporally explicit IBM of the northern stock of sea bass in which individual fish respond to local food supply and sea surface temperature. All life stages (i.e., pelagic stages, juvenile and mature fish) are modelled and individual fish have their own realistic energy budgets driven by observed dynamic maps of phytoplankton density and sea surface temperature. The model was developed to assess how sector-specific management measures applied to subsets of the population impact the overall stock and can simulate population consequences of management scenarios based on those that have been implemented by the European Commission, including an increase in the minimum conservation reference size, a short-term ban on pelagic trawling for commercial fishers and bag-limits for recreational fishers. The IBM offers a tool to complement the annual stock assessment in managing European sea bass because it models individual movement, environmental drivers and emergent spatial distribution, thereby providing enhanced predictions of management strategy outcomes that could inform spatial and sector-specific advice on fishing opportunities and policy.

The Fishing BC mobile (FBC) app is an online information and catch monitoring tool for recreational anglers developed in collaboration between the Sport Fishing Institute of BC (SFI) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and funded, in part, by the Pacific Salmon Foundation and the Pew Trust. In its simplest form, the app allows DFO to provide recreational anglers with information about regulations, catch and possession limits, safety notices and species identification on an easily accessible mobile platform as a real time, rather than archived, format. The app now allows DFO to effectively narrowcast important fisheries information about openings, closures and other important safety and management decisions directly to anglers.

The one-way provision of fisheries regulations and management updates were the first steps.  The FBC app has evolved significantly from extensive field testing and learning from the now 40,000 app users and a shared interest to improve and enhance catch information regarding British Columbia’s public fishery.  Enhancements including multiple language versions and a computer learning species identification feature allow anglers easy access to information then print or website formats. The app was designed to serve as a fishing license holder and a permanent catch log including in areas where connectivity can limit data transfer.  The app provides opportunities to gather catch data from anglers fishing in specific areas, by modes or at times that have not previously been well monitored or at all are anticipated to aid and inform management decisions.

A benefit to DFO and anglers, the development of the FBC app is a private-public collaboration and required the department to reorganize internal and outwards-facing communication pathways. While this sort of IT adaptation is commonplace in many businesses, it is new and different for a large Canadian government department that is also charged with fisheries management and evolving regulations yet must consider opportunities and access for over 250,000 independent recreational anglers.

Biography: 
Owen Bird is the Executive Director of the Sport FIshing Institute of BC (SFI). Owen has been involved with recreational fisheries in British Columbia from an early age as an angler, a guide, an operations manager, and as a fishing television program producer. He also serves as co-chair and participant in DFO's Sport Fishing Advisory Board Catch Monitoring Working Group. The SFI, in existence since 1980, concentrates its efforts on protecting, enhancing, and promoting sustainable recreational fishing opportunities in British Columbia, Canada.

Workshop background: 
TierraMar, through its Ghostnets Australia program and OzFish Unlimited have partnered to develop and implement a national plan of action addressing fishing related waste and ghost gear for the recreational sector.

Workshop plan: 
Through this 60 min co-designed workshop, the workshop organisers would like to engage recreational fishers interested in developing a national plan of action to tackle fishing related waste/ghost gear from recreational fishing across Australia. An outline of the project will be provided, followed by opportunity for participants to work together to identify key issues and priorities requiring action, as well as potential solutions and who needs to be involved for how to address priorities.

About the authors: 
Cassie Price is OzFish’s national Director of Habitat Programs, she heads up our Habitat Project Team across Australia who are busy guiding recreational fisher effort in a broad range of fish habitat restoration and citizen science activities. Cassie is driven by a passion for sustainable resources, a love of fishing and her farming background.

Anissa Lawrence is the Managing Director of TierraMar and leads the GhostNets Australia program that works across Australia and beyond to find fit for purpose solutions to reduce the impact of fishing generated ghostgear and waste impacting on marine and freshwater ecosystems.

Discard mortality is a growing concern in the Gulf of Mexico reef fish fishery. As recreational fishing effort increases, so do both regulatory and voluntary discards. This is problematic for deep-water reef fish susceptible to barotrauma, a pressure related injury caused by reeling a fish from depth. In 2022, new regulations were enacted in the Gulf of Mexico requiring anglers to possess tools onboard to mitigate the effects of barotrauma, which ideally will improve the health of the fisheries. Determining if anglers are adopting these best practices and evaluating the impact of that behavior change requires modifications to existing data collection methods. Traditionally, science and management have struggled to coordinate evaluating whether regulations such as the requirement of possessing release tools onboard are having the intended effects on the fisheries.

Return 'Em Right, a program dedicated to increasing the survival of reef fish in the Gulf of Mexico, is currently collecting data on the use of best release practices to enhance science on discard mortality and provide it for use in the fishery management process. This data is being collected through a variety of mechanisms including at-sea observers, elogbooks, mobile applications and scientific studies. Our presentation will discuss strategies and lessons learned for effective coordination of data collection methods amongst state and federal management agencies. Coordination is needed to standardize cross-jurisdictional efforts and ultimately monitor the effects of management changes on fisheries. Globally, nationally, and regionally we are stronger when we find ways to work together.

New Zealand adopted a rights based management system 36 years ago to control and allocate commercial catches for 98 species divided into 642 fish stocks. This has been described as path dependent, which means there is no way back if expectations are not met or circumstances change. In general, inshore marine ecosystems have continued to decline despite expectations of future abundance and diversity.

Can New Zealand escape from this governance structure in the face of public dissatisfaction with poor outcomes and entrenched rights?

The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council has invested considerable resources to answer this question, and sought to learn from other developed countries what has worked and what has not. The reforms now advocated by the Council are collectively known as ‘Rescue Fish’ and comprise five fundamental policy changes:

1. Unwind the rights based allocation system.
2. Set national non-discretionary stock management targets.
3. Establish a co-governance body comprising Māori and Government to set Total Allowable Catches (TACs).
4. Establish regional fisheries management bodies to maintain a marine spatial plan to meet local needs.
5. Establish a resource rental.

The primary purpose of reform is to overcome the regulatory capture of government agencies by fisheries rights holders. The mechanism is to repatriate all rights, except indigenous rights, back to the government. Without this, no reform is possible.

The secondary purpose is to improve fish stock abundance and diversity, primarily by setting legislated stock targets. The TACs that would conform with these targets will be decided by the co-governance body using the precautionary principle.

Regional marine spatial plans will be informed by research and include fishing controls, gear restrictions, and marine protected areas. As the current dysfunction continues the crisis deepens and the need for systemic reform becomes more apparent. The New Zealand Sport Fishing Council is currently gathering support for fisheries reform.

In the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) the rivers, lakes, and waterholes are often the economic and recreational lifeblood of towns, and in three major regional hubs, OzFish River Repair Buses are enhancing those ecosystems.

OzFish Unlimited has three River Repair Buses across the MDB based at Dubbo, Mildura, and Moree. Each bus is imbedded into the community and focused on restoring local waterways. The River Repair Bus initiative is a first of its kind for the MDB. It was started in Dubbo by Inland Waterways OzFish as a means of restoring the Macquarie River. Each bus is equipped with an experienced team leader and designed to transport volunteers and all the heavy gear needed to implement vital habitat restoration work on not only rivers, but on creeks, lakes, billabongs, and wetlands.

This presentation will outline the successes of this program in terms of engagement with local recreational fishers, educational demonstrations and displays at appropriate events, development, coordination, and participation in restoration programs, and building a community of volunteers who are accelerating the progress of fish habitat restoration.

These actions are creating productive fisheries and changing community attitude toward recreational fishers. The ongoing success of River Repair Bus program will rely on the continuing engagement of local stakeholders to ensure region’s individuals, groups and organisations take ownership of the health of their waterways and recognise the value a River Repair Bus can bring.

Freshwater species face a range of threats, many of which are only increasing in intensity and frequency (e.g. climate change; fire; altered flow regimes; invasive species; fragmented habitat and populations). While management actions (e.g. environmental flows and invasive species management; habitat restoration and rehabilitation) have been effective in ameliorating these threats in some cases, many freshwater species are continuing to decline. Several freshwater species now only persist in small, isolated populations, which are at risk of further decline as threats increase in the future, or at risk of extinction from episodic events such as bushfires.  

Hydroacoustic technology has been used in a wide range of applications since the early 1900’s. At present, the technology is available globally and used for qualitative assessment/decision-making in a recreational fishing sense and scientifically, for quantitative physical and biological assessments on underwater resources. Hydroacoustic technology operates on a level of efficiency unmatched by more conventional survey methods such as netting or electrofishing. In this assessment, methodologies are examined for four separate technologies – scientific split-beam echosounders, recreational sidescan imaging, traditional 2D sonar, and the more recent live scanning sonar. Each is considered for applications in habitat mapping and assessment, fish biomass estimates, and fish behavior assessments. Application of vertical (down through the water column) and horizontal (across the water column) methods will be compared. The discussion will focus on practical methodologies for planning surveys, capturing and cleaning data, and post-processing and analysis, suitable for monitoring, management, and research applications. Example results from actual surveys will demonstrate real-world applications.

Biography: 
Stefan Sawynok joined Infofish in 2013. Upon joining Stefan developed the Track My Fish Network for fishing events servicing events 450 events Annually in three countries. Stefan also developed the processing capabilities that enabled large-scale Inland surveys for Fish Biomass, Habitat and Bathymetry operating all year round.

Recreational fisheries are recognized as socioecological systems in which anglers act a unique “predator” that neither wholly biologically depends on, nor always kills the fish they catch. Thus, the per-capita and cumulative ecosystem-level effects of recreational fisheries depend strongly on fisher behaviors such as species targeted and voluntary catch-and-release decisions. These decisions should shift as species’ abundance, fishery technology, and angling knowledge change, as has occurred rapidly over the last several decades. However, long-term changes in targeting and catch-and-release behaviors have rarely been assessed, especially for large marine systems. Our objective was to assess how targeting and catch-and-release behaviors have or have not changed in marine recreational fisheries. We analyzed decades of data describing targeting and catch-and-release behaviors of marine recreational fishers from nearly the entire United States coast. We found several key trends. In most locations, the proportion of anglers who did not target specific species (e.g., no target species) has decreased over time, suggesting increased average angler specialization. At the same time, the diversity of primarily or secondarily targeted species has increased, indicating a wider range of species specifically targeted. When voluntary catch-and-release behaviors did show changes, they tended to be region- and species-specific increases in voluntary catch-and-release. These trends together suggest the angling population may be functioning as an increasingly specialized and diversified predator capable of effectively targeting more species than ever before, though perhaps with lesser lethality. Implications for ecosystem-based management of recreational fisheries include an increasing number of species or stocks whose exploitation necessitates assessment and management, as well as the importance of understanding target-switching behavior to anticipate ecosystem ramifications of management changes to one or more species.

The Bahamian archipelago spans 470,000 km², a large portion of which is flats environment. A healthy flats environment is home to the bonefish (Albula vulpes), an economically important sport fish throughout its geographical range. In The Bahamas, the recreational catch and release flats fishery has an annual economic impact exceeding $169 million, and the fishery has high cultural value. Despite the fishery’s importance, its sustainability is threatened by habitat loss and degradation, and to a lesser extent illegal harvest. We collaborate with fishing guides, fishing lodges, anglers, and local communities to obtain data on bonefish habitat use and movements and undertake habitat restoration efforts. Data from this collaborative work – from scientific research as well as traditional ecological knowledge – has led to the identification of essential bonefish habitats including home ranges, migratory pathways, and pre-spawning aggregation sites. Data collected from research and habitat restoration efforts are incorporated into outreach and education initiatives to inform fisheries managers, government officials, fishing guides, anglers, and students. The partnerships with these stakeholders have fostered advocacy for habitat conservation and restoration. In fact, fishing guides have played leading roles in habitat conservation and restoration efforts. Concurrently, we work with resource management agencies to incorporate these data into conservation strategies. This multifaceted approach increased stakeholder involvement, leading to improved relationships between stakeholders and resource management agencies. Evidence includes the recent designation of twenty-five new marine protected areas to conserve bonefish habitats, and ongoing work toward additional habitat protection and restoration.

Large pelagic, highly migratory species (HMS) - billfish, tuna, sharks, and swordfish - are among the most challenging species to pursue, and manage, in the world. In the Atlantic, these fisheries are managed internationally by the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and by NOAA Fisheries in the U.S. territorial waters of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. These species attract a highly dedicated recreational following that ranges from shore-based anglers targeting sharks exceeding 3 m in length to offshore anglers that take multi-day trips targeting tunas and swordfish at depths of over 500 m deep to billfish anglers that compete in tournaments with prizes in the millions of U.S. dollars. In the United States, recent studies have estimated that HMS recreational fisheries contribute over $500 million annually to the U.S. economy. HMS recreational anglers have been strong advocates for conservation and science-based managed both domestically and internationally. They have advocated for expanding the practice of catch-and-release, and best handling techniques in recreational fisheries as well as the use of circle hooks in both recreational and commercial fisheries. They have also contributed greatly to the scientific knowledge of HMS migratory patterns through decades long tagging programs in the United States that have seen U.S. caught fish recaptured throughout the Atlantic from the U.S. to off the coasts of Scandinavia and Africa, and mandatory catch reporting programs that provide essential data for quota management and stock assessments. Despite the challenges of managing such dispersed, international fisheries, the dedication and cooperation of U.S. recreational anglers has helped to make U.S. fisheries among the most sustainably managed in the world.

Climate change is having both direct and indirect impacts on the distribution and relative abundance of freshwater fishes. Climate-induced changes in game fish populations may be reflected in data from smartphone applications that anglers can use to log their catches. We applied generalized linear mixed-effects models to data from a popular fishing app to identify spatiotemporal trends in game fish catches throughout the contiguous United States from 2015 to 2021. Results were largely consistent with observed or expected responses to climate change. For example, warm-water species became more common than cool-water species in catches – especially in the Great Lakes region, the Northeast, and parts of the West Coast. Single-species analyses detected increases for Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), and decreases for Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), Northern Pike (Esox lucius), and Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Results were mixed for Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) and Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu) with most decreasing trends occurring at southern range boundaries, and most increasing trend occurring further north or in the non-native portions of their range. Although our results may be explained by alternative phenomena that operate or interact at similarly large spatial scales (e.g., cultural eutrophication or changes in the relative popularity of game fishes), climate change remains a viable hypothesis. Future work should focus on refining the use of app data to monitor game fish responses to climate change and other anthropogenic stressors at multiple spatial scales - especially as more data becomes available.

The sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) is a highly mobile epipelagic billfish whose range extends across the world’s tropics and sub-tropics. Sailfish occur seasonally across northern Australian waters, where many recreational anglers enjoy catching and releasing them for sport. Anglers have contributed sailfish observations as citizen scientists through conventional tagging programs in Australia since the 1970s. Despite the strong interest in this eye-catching species from recreational anglers, the ecology of sailfish throughout the central Indo-Pacific is poorly understood. The capacity to engage many recreational anglers in data collection is a cost-effective tool to gather information on fish that would otherwise be logistically difficult to survey.

This talk provides an overview of the key role of citizen science in the study of sailfish, the challenges involved and an example of a long-term citizen science dataset that is being used to model the oceanographic predictors of recreational sailfish catches off the east coast of Australia (e.g. sea surface temperature, productivity and complex water mixing). The study aims: 1) to determine which oceanographic factors influence sailfish availability to recreational fishers in northern Australia; 2) to characterise the seasonal and inter-annual variability of recreational sailfish catches; and 3) to make predictions about changes to sailfish availability in a changing climate. This research will help fill important knowledge gaps about the drivers of sailfish distribution and their habitat preferences in the central Indo-Pacific, where these populations require conservation and management into the future.

Many multisector fisheries are adopting formal allocation of catch shares for recreational, commercial and customary sectors to provide recreational fishing experiences, seafood to domestic consumers and recognition of First Nations peoples. Sectoral catch allocations for the West Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource in Western Australia were established in 2012. This resource includes multiple species across large spatial and temporal scales with recreational catches dominated by West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum), pink snapper (Chrysophrys auratus), baldchin groper (Choerodon rubescens) and breaksea cod (Epinephelides armatus). After accounting for customary harvest, catch shares were allocated to the commercial (64%) and recreational (36%) sectors. We present a synthesis of the development, implementation and reviews for management of the recreational sector over the last 20 years and outline future directions. There have been three critical points for this fishery. Firstly, a stock assessment in 2007 identified reductions in catch of at least 50% of 2005/06 levels were required to allow stock recovery. Following consultation and evaluation, regulations were adjusted to include seasonal closures, and size and possession limits. Secondly, management strategies expanded from catch-objectives to include ecological, social and economic objectives and a formal Harvest Strategy was developed in mid 2021. Thirdly, a stock assessment in late 2021 identified recovery was slower than anticipated, therefore a further 50% reduction in catch limits was proposed. A second consultation and evaluation process identified primary and supporting measures to achieve this reduction and recover the resource. Revised management arrangements consider short-term objectives, such as control rules, and long-term objectives that might require new strategies and/or changes to regulations. This synthesis highlights the importance of monitoring sectoral catch, credible scientific data, formal allocation processes, robust co-management and flexible management arrangements to ensure all sectors can access their allocated share.

Impoundment fisheries are increasing in popularity and deliver significant socio-economic benefits to many regional communities. To maximise their potential, it is important to improve the reliability and quality of the fishing, properties which currently vary significantly between locations. A key difference between impoundments with high-quality and poor-quality fishing is often the condition and extent of structural habitat present. This presents a management opportunity to improve the fishery.

Impoundment fishery management in Australia has typically focussed on stock enhancement and harvest controls, with surprisingly little attention given to managing fish habitat. There is convincing evidence from the USA that strategic fish habitat enhancement has positively influenced many impoundment fisheries, and this approach has become another primary tool for fisheries managers. A similar management approach could also be utilised in Australia.

A trial program was established to examine how habitat enhancement could be used to improve recreational fishing in Queensland’s stocked impoundments. The program investigated the response of stocked Australian native species to the introduction of habitat structures under Australian environmental conditions. Two impoundments were chosen to represent the typical species stocked in both tropical and temperate waterways. Following baseline surveys, habitat enhancement plans were developed and implemented in conjunction with local stakeholders. Monitoring and evaluation programs then assessed changes in fishery performance, fish distributions and angler satisfaction.

The results were successful and indicated that native fish will utilise a broad suite of habitat of structure designs. Local abundances of both recreationally targeted and prey species increased at sites where habitat structures were introduced. Anglers reported increases in catch rate and satisfaction with their fishing experiences.

A guideline on how habitat enhancement can strategically be used in Australian impoundments has been produced and is available online.

Biography: 
As a Principal Fisheries Scientist within the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries' Recreational Fisheries Development Group, my research focusses on ways to improve recreational angling experiences. Past projects have included developing effective fisheries enhancement strategies, pest fish management, and threatened species recovery. I strongly believe recreational anglers have a key role in management of their fisheries and work closely with community groups to provide them with the tools to help them improve the waterways they stock and fish. My recent focus has been evaluating habitat enhancement strategies to manage and improve stocked impoundment fisheries in Australia.