Abstract
Recreational fishers are increasingly competing for space and resources with commercial fishers worldwide, but have been poorly studied. In particular, the impacts of spearfishing competitions on the temperate fish assemblages have seldom been analysed. In Galicia (NW Spain), there are currently 5000 spear fishers, and 500 of them participate in spearfishing competitions. An historic archive of spearfishing competitions was used to assess their influence on the subsequent competitions in the area and to analyse their effect on the fish abundances estimated by underwater visual censuses. The annual recreational catch of the spear fishers was also estimated and comparisons with the commercial landings were performed. The spear fishers targeted 29 species, although six accounted for 95% of the catch. Most of the species show low vulnerabilities to fishing pressure and only Dicentrarchus labrax, among frequently caught species, can be considered as moderately vulnerable. The overall impact of spearfishing competitions on fish populations was limited, although some competitions temporarily reduced the abundances of Labrus bergylta, the main target species, by up to 83%. Spear fishers caught a large proportion of the total catch of common species, with recreational catches of some species (e.g. L. bergylta) matching or exceeding the commercial catch. The inclusion of this fishery in the management models of the coastal ecosystems is strongly recommended
Highlights
There is growing concern about the effects of recreational fisheries on world ecosystems (Schroeder and Love 2002, Cooke and Cowx 2006, Lewin et al 2006)
The use of inappropriate management models based on short-term policy decisions is seriously threatening the long-term sustainability of many recreational fisheries (Kirkegaard and Gartside 1998, Arlinghaus 2006)
Many spear fishers participate in competitions, mostly in the countries of southern Europe (Pawson et al 2008), to the point that some of the competition records have already been used to assess changes in marine ecosystems (Coll et al 2004, Steffe et al 2007, Pita and Freire 2014)
Summary
There is growing concern about the effects of recreational fisheries on world ecosystems (Schroeder and Love 2002, Cooke and Cowx 2006, Lewin et al 2006). While (Smith and Nakaya 2002) consider the spear fishery ecologically sustainable, other authors have found large negative effects on ecosystems (Rusell 1977, Harmelin et al 1995, Coll et al 2004, Lloret et al 2008, Frisch et al 2012) This fishery has been regulated in a precautionary way (Morales-Nin et al 2005) and has even been subjected to several restrictions (Smith and Nakaya 2002) because of this lack of information for decisionmaking and management (Pawson et al 2008, Godoy et al 2010). The impact of these competitions on the local fish populations has not yet been studied, they may result in very abundant catches in a short period
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