Long‐term trends in the catch characteristics of rainbow troutOncorhynchus mykiss, in a self‐sustained recreational fishery, Tongariro River, New Zealand

Abstract

The catch distribution of adfluvial rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), amongst anglers is described from 14 868 creel surveys collected from the Tongariro River in central North Island of New Zealand between 1985 and 2013. An index of fish abundance was obtained during the period 1998-2013 from a continuous trapping programme on the Waipa Stream, an important spawning tributary of the Tongariro River. Using these two data sets, inequalities in catch distribution were quantified using the Gini coefficient and Lorenz asymmetry coefficient (LAC). Both Gini coefficient and LAC showed a slight decline over time. This occurred concurrently with reduced angling participation and a decline in fish abundance. Inequality was larger when fish were more abundant, but catchper-unit-effort was only marginally affected despite large variations in fish abundance, suggesting that some hyperstability is occurring. Several important management implications of these results are presented.

Recommendations for the future of recreational fisheries to prepare the social‐ecological system to cope with change

“…In some areas of the world, there are large initiatives designed to improve the monitoring of recreational fisheries (Camp et al . ; Dedual & Rohan ; Motta et al . ; Ryan et al .…”

“…Novel data-poor assessment methods are thus urgently needed (Beard et al 2011), and some important progress has been made . In some areas of the world, there are large initiatives designed to improve the monitoring of recreational fisheries (Camp et al 2016;Dedual & Rohan 2016;Motta et al 2016;Ryan et al 2016). For example, large-scale survey efforts are underway in European marine fisheries to characterize catch and harvest of anglers and include the information in stock assessments (Strehlow et al 2012).…”