Abstract
This work is the result of an international research effort to determine the main impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on marine recreational fishing. Changes were assessed on (1) access to fishing, derived from lockdowns and other mobility restrictions; (2) ecosystems, because of alterations in fishing intensity and human presence; (3) the blue economy, derived from alterations in the investments and expenses of the fishers; and (4) society, in relation to variations in fishers’ health and well-being. For this, a consultation with experts from 16 countries was carried out, as well as an international online survey aimed at recreational fishers, that included specific questions designed to capture fishers’ heterogeneity in relation to behavior, skills and know-how, and vital involvement. Fishers’ participation in the online survey (5,998 recreational fishers in 15 countries) was promoted through a marketing campaign. The sensitivity of the fishers’ clustering procedure, based on the captured heterogeneity, was evaluated by SIMPER analysis and by generalized linear models. Results from the expert consultation highlighted a worldwide reduction in marine recreational fishing activity. Lower human-driven pressures are expected to generate some benefits for marine ecosystems. However, experts also identified high negative impacts on the blue economy, as well as on fisher health and well-being because of the loss of recreational fishing opportunities. Most (98%) of the fishers who participated in the online survey were identified asadvanced, showing a much higher degree of commitment to recreational fishing thanbasicfishers (2%).Advancedfishers were, in general, more pessimistic about the impacts of COVID-19, reporting higher reductions in physical activity and fish consumption, as well as poorer quality of night rest, foul mood, and raised more concerns about their health status. Controlled and safe access to marine recreational fisheries during pandemics would provide benefits to the health and well-being of people and reduce negative socioeconomic impacts, especially for vulnerable social groups.
Highlights
In late 2019, an outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus started in China (Graham and Baric, 2020; Hu et al, 2020; Maxmen, 2021)
The experts consulted in this study concluded that marine recreational fishing access was reduced during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during temporal lockdowns imposed in most countries
Recreational fishers reported in the online survey that they reduced their physical activity and fish consumption, especially in the case of advanced fishers, for whom recreational fishing is central for their lifestyle, and the consumption of the catch is very important
Summary
In late 2019, an outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus started in China (Graham and Baric, 2020; Hu et al, 2020; Maxmen, 2021). A global pandemic was declared in March 2020, as COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus (World Health Organization, 2020b), escalated outside China (World Health Organization, 2020a). In mid-2021, when vaccination campaigns began to show positive effects on the control of the disease in several countries (Kaur and Gupta, 2020), the COVID-19 pandemic caused millions of deaths and hundreds of millions of infections (Dong et al, 2020). Humanity suffered a notable impact as a result of the pandemic, including losses of jobs and an abrupt disruption in global demand of goods and services (Barua, 2020; McKibbin and Fernando, 2020; Nicola et al, 2020). An increase in economic inequality and worldwide poverty is expected, especially in developing countries (World Bank, 2020), and a peak in the suicide rate (Kawohl and Nordt, 2020)
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