An assessment of catches and harvest of recreational shore angling in the north of Portugal

Abstract

Recreational shore angling in the Atlantic Ocean between Moledo and Aveiro (Portugal) was examined using roving creel surveys (March/September 2001). Cooperation was high (90% of 2310 anglers approached). At least 39 species of fish were caught at a rate of approximately 0.5 fish angler h )1 . An estimated 7319 kg of Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), with 45.6% below the minimum legal size, and 2040 kg of sea breams (genus Diplodus), correspond to 5.75% and 1.19% of the commercial landings in the same geographical area, respectively. The results shed light on a number of issues relevant to integrated coastal management, including temporal and spatial distribution of fishing effort, species caught, sizes of fish, catch rates, and factors influencing catches and angler satisfaction. Whilst the results suggest that the catches of sea breams and sea bass by day-time recreational shore angling in northern Portugal are small compared with commercial fishing, other recreational activities, such as boat fishing and spear-fishing, must be assessed.

Catches of the Sport Fishing Competitions Along the Algarve Coast (Portugal): Species, Sizes, Catch Rates, and Trends

“…While this contradicts the opinions and beliefs of anglers interviewed both in the north and south of Portugal (Rangel andErzini 2007, Veiga et al 2010), an explanation can be found in the differences between recreational and sport angling. In the latter, the anglers in competitions focus on the more abundant pelagic fish (chub mackerel and garfish) and mullets, which have little or no commercial value, in order to maximise their catches, whereas recreational anglers target the more highly prized sea breams and European seabass that are also heavily fished by the commercial fishermen.…”

“…(Table 1). In comparison, Rangel and Erzini (2007), in the northern Portugal beach angling, identified sea bream Diplodus spp. and European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.), as the most important species caught by recreational anglers.…”

“…In the south and south-west coast of Portugal, Veiga et al (2010) Rangel and Erzini (2007) for recreational anglers in the north of Portugal. The differences in catch rate value previously mentioned reflect a greater similarity between the recreational and the competition fishing in the South and Southwest of Portugal, which is higher compared with the values found by Rangel and Erzini (2007) for the north.…”

“…In the south and south-west coast of Portugal, Veiga et al (2010) Rangel and Erzini (2007) for recreational anglers in the north of Portugal. The differences in catch rate value previously mentioned reflect a greater similarity between the recreational and the competition fishing in the South and Southwest of Portugal, which is higher compared with the values found by Rangel and Erzini (2007) for the north. Compared with this study, the difference might be due to the generally higher fishing success of anglers participating in competitions (Brouwer andBuxton 2002, Pradervand andBaird 2002), while in the study of Veiga et al (2010) it might be related to the kind of habitat, beaches and cliffs, whereas in Rangel and Erzini (2007) only beaches were fished.…”

“…Competitions based on rod and reel methods are a relatively recent phenomenon in Portugal, formally recognised in 1947 by the foundation of the Portuguese Federation of Sport Fishing (FPPD). To date only recreational (leisure) fishing surveys have been conducted in Portugal (Rangel andErzini 2007, Veiga et al 2010).…”