Modelling and management options for salmonid sport fisheries: A case study from Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

Salmonid sport fishery management in Argentinian Patagonia is usually guided by stakeholder perceptions, which do not consider the biological and ecological constraints acting upon aquatic resources. An example of this are management policies for Traful Lake, where Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., was actively stocked during the last decade in an attempt to change the fish assemblage structure and to create a highly valuable sport fishery. This study assesses the likelihood of these policies achieving such assemblage structure changes through the study of affluent‐stream suitability as spawning and breeding grounds, lake fish assemblage parameters, trophic diversity and possible competition due to diet overlap. This study also assesses alternative management practices through population simulations and bioenergetic modelling under diverse catch‐size limit scenarios. This study concludes that it is not advisable to try to generate a unique and distinctive sport fishery by stocking Atlantic salmon in an already renowned fishery in Northern Patagonia. Instead, a more comprehensive framework for decision‐making is suggested, involving short‐term studies that go beyond the specific problem of the target species and incorporate the whole fish assemblage using diverse approaches and modelling strategies.

Stochastic differential game for management of non-renewable fishery resource under model ambiguity

“…Fishery resources in inland waters are of importance from social, economic, ecological, and environmental viewpoints [40], and their sustainable use and conservation have been recent major concerns [12,39]. We are interested in establishment of a sound management strategy for inland fishery resources, which is an urgent problem in the world [6,13,36,57].…”