What constitutes effective governance of recreational fisheries?—A global review

Abstract

The effectiveness of recreational fisheries governance has been mixed, with some countries boasting good governance practices that sustain productive recreational fisheries, while others lack any policies and governance structures specific to recreational fisheries. Here, we identify what constitutes effective governance of recreational fisheries by carrying out: (a) a desktop review of 227 country‐specific fisheries legislation, policies and strategies; and (b) a follow‐up questionnaire‐based survey covering 57 contacts in 29 selected countries. Our results show that while recreational fishing is referred to in the main legislation of 67% of the countries reviewed, only 86 of these 152 countries provide a definition for either “recreational” or “sport” fishing and not always in the main legislation. Recreational fisheries are not considered to be effectively managed in many countries, with less than a quarter of respondents claiming that management in their country is effective. Furthermore, the management efficacy, including compliance with regulations, was considered greater for the industrial and small‐scale fishing sectors than for recreational fisheries in most countries. From our findings, it appears that 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. To ensure adaptation to rapidly changing conditions, policy should recognize all fishery sectors and proactively incorporate adaptive planning and contingency plans to effectively secure the diverse values of resources for all users.

Dynamic evolution analysis of recreational fisheries development in China

“…Recreational fisheries are a relevant and valuable sector of fisheries and need better governance and management (Arlinghaus et al, 2019;Potts et al, 2020).…”

“…The supervision and management of recreational fisheries has lagged behind its commercial fisheries development. Recreational fisheries are a relevant and valuable sector of fisheries and need better governance and management (Arlinghaus et al ., 2019; Potts et al ., 2020).…”

“…USA, Canada and Australia). These include policies that outline the broad principles, fisheries laws and regulations relating directly to this fishing sector, while also identifying the organisations or structures that fulfil governance and management roles (Potts et al ., 2020). Although compared with other industrialised countries, recreational fisheries in China are not considered to be managed effectively.…”

The emergence of marine recreational drone fishing: Regional trends and emerging concerns

“…S1) relating to the potential social, ethical and ecological issues associated with marine recreational drone fishing and prompted the authors to further investigate the topic. Within the South African context, the evolution of drone fishing is highly contentious given that the inshore recreational fishery is the largest marine fishery by number of participants, largely open access, poorly governed (Potts et al 2019) and in direct competition with subsistence, artisanal and smallscale commercial fishers (Potts et al 2020). The inshore hook and line fishery in South Africa targets a highly diverse range of elasmobranchs and teleost species (Mann 2013).…”

Me and My Behavior: An Experiment on Individual Characteristics and Compliance Behavior in Recreational Fishing

“…Recreational fisheries are generally managed as a regulated open access resource, but the common pool nature of recreational fisheries makes them vulnerable to overexploitation. The success of fisheries management depends on factors such as strong leadership, social capital, and incentives (Gutiérrez et al, 2011) as well as having congruent objectives (Hilborn, 2007), and good governance (Potts et al, 2020). Recreational fisheries are traditionally managed via a mixture of regulations and rules (Morison, 2004).…”