Integrating recreational fisheries data into stock assessment: implications for model performance and subsequent harvest strategies

Abstract

Understanding the impacts of recreational fishing on commercially fished stocks is becoming increasingly relevant for fisheries managers. However, data from recreational fisheries are not commonly included in stock assessments of commercially fished stocks. Simulation models of two assessment methods employed in Australia's Commonwealth fisheries were used to explore how recreational fishery data can be included, and the likely consequences for management. In a data-poor management strategy for blue eye trevalla, Hyperoglyphe antarctica (Carmichael), temporal trends in recreational catch most affected management outcomes. In a data-rich age-structured stock assessment for striped marlin, Kajikia audax (Philippi), estimates of stock status were biased when recreational catches were large or when the recreational fishery targeted different size classes than the commercial fishery and these data were not integrated into the assessment. Including data from recreational fishing can change perceptions of stock status and impact recommendations for harvest strategies and management action. An understanding of recreational fishery dynamics should be prioritised for some species.

Using Machine Learning to Uncover Latent Research Topics in Fishery Models

“…Recreational fisheries underwent an increase in topic proportion from 2.11% in the 1990-1995 period to 7.90% in the 2010-2016 period, indicating the growing importance of recreational fisheries assessments in fisheries science. The increased importance of recreational fishing on the commercial fish stocks (Griffiths and Fay, 2015) is in line with the observed trend in this study. Apart from recreational fisheries, no other types of fisheries (e.g., small-scale, artisanal, or commercial fisheries) were identified by the topic model.…”

The co-existence of recreational and artisanal fisheries in the central parts of the Danube and Sava rivers

“…However, there are frequent conflicts between recreational and professional fishermen (Mendonça, 2014;Teramoto and Diegues, 2014), which is valid also for the rivers studied in this paper (Matulić et al, 2010;Smederevac-Lalic et al, 2012). It became increasingly relevant for fish management to understand the impact of recreational fishing on commercially fished stocks and vice versa (Strehlow et al, 2012;Griffiths and Fay, 2015;Marengo et al, 2015). Therefore, in this research we compare the official data on both kinds of fishing on the Sava and Danube rivers in Croatia and Hungary, before the commercial fishery in Hungary was banned in 2016 (Hirado.…”

Bridging the temporal gap: Continuous and cost-effective monitoring of dynamic recreational fisheries by web cameras and creel surveys

“…Surveys of recreational fisheries capable of providing total harvest estimates are logistically onerous and therefore expensive, but the estimates they provide may have limited long term utility. Fisheries managers need to ensure that the blunt tools they have to manage levels of recreational harvesting are relevant, effective and implemented when required (Allen and Miranda, 1995;Harley et al, 2000;Post et al, 2003), and better information is also required to inform stock assessments that need to account for the impact substantial but dynamic recreational fisheries (Zeller et al, 2008;Griffiths and Fay, 2015). Cost effective continuous monitoring systems are therefore required when managing highly variable and substantial recreational fisheries, such as that described here.…”