Harvest Pressure on Coastal Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) from Recreational Fishing Relative to Commercial Fishing Assessed from Tag-Recovery Data.

Albert Fernandez-Chacon,Alf Ring Kleiven,Jan-Harald Nordahl,Esben Moland Olsen,Even Moland,Sigurd Heiberg Espeland,Halvor Knutsen

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149595

Albert Fernandez-Chacon, Alf Ring Kleiven

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0149595

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Abstract

Marine recreational fishing is a popular outdoor activity. However, knowledge about the magnitude of recreational catches relative to commercial catches in coastal fisheries is generally sparse. Coastal Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a target species for recreational fishers in the North Atlantic. In Norway, recreational fishers are allowed to use a variety of traps and nets as well as long-line and rod and line when fishing for cod. From 2005 to 2013, 9729 cod (mean size: 40 cm, range: 15–93 cm) were tagged and released in coastal Skagerrak, southeast Norway. Both high-reward (NOK 500) and low-reward tags (NOK 50) were used in this study. Because some harvested fish (even those posting high-reward tags) may go unreported by fishers, reporting rates were estimated from mark-recovery models that incorporate detection parameters in their structure, in addition to survival and mortality estimates. During 2005 to 2013, a total of 1707 tagged cod were recovered and reported by fishers. We estimate the overall annual survival to be 33% (SE 1.5). Recreational rod and line fishing were responsible for 33.7% (SE 2.4) of total mortality, followed by commercial fisheries (15.1% SE 0.8) and recreational fixed gear (6.8% SE 0.4). Natural mortality was 44.4% (SE 2.5) of total mortality. Our findings suggest that recreational fishing—rod and line fishing in particular—is responsible for a substantial part of fishing mortality exerted on coastal cod in southern Norway.

Highlights

Recreational fishing, defined as all fishing activities not conducted for commercial and subsistence purposes, is a popular activity globally [2]
Our findings suggest that the recreational fishery, in which rod and line dominate, may be responsible for the greater part of fishing mortality exerted on coastal cod in this region
We considered that individuals can move among 5 states: alive (“L”), dead by commercial fisheries (“DC”), dead by recreational hook and line (“DL”), dead by recreational fixed gear (“DS”) and dead by other causes (“DO”)

Summary

Introduction

Recreational fishing, defined as all fishing activities not conducted for commercial and subsistence purposes (see [1] for further definitions), is a popular activity globally [2]. For some coastal species of fish and crustaceans, recent studies show that recreational fishing may PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0149595. For the majority of harvested species, little is known about the relative importance of recreational fishing versus commercial fishing. Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) is a popular target species both for recreational and commercial fishers in Norway. Reporting letters supplied by fishers who have recovered tagged cod were used to analyse the catch ratio between commercial and recreational fishers as well as the fishing mortality exerted by the two groups. Our findings suggest that the recreational fishery, in which rod and line dominate, may be responsible for the greater part of fishing mortality exerted on coastal cod in this region

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