Aspects Of Fisheries Management Research Articles

Characterization of specialist European catfish anglers in southern Germany: Implications for future management

The European catfish (Silurus glanis) is a large apex predator native to Eastern Europe. Increasing populations within and outside the species’ native range in recent years, and its popularity with recreational anglers are fueling discussions about appropriate management. To understand the motivations of anglers and their views on different management strategies, an internet survey was conducted in southern Germany. The results showed that catfish anglers differ in several aspects from those targeting other species. For specialists, catfish fishing is a central part of life, and they invest significant time and money to catch trophy sized fish. Most catfish anglers think that their targeted species has no negative effect on the local fish community and practice catch and release, despite this practice being illegal in Germany. Large catfish are often released under the misapprehension that they are inedible. The findings of this study suggest that new fishery management approaches are needed in order to mitigate the impact of European catfish in southern Germany. A co-production approach actively incorporating anglers’ perspectives will be essential in implementing education and incentives for catfish consumption alongside other aspects of fisheries management.

Tracking aquatic animals for fisheries management in European waters

AbstractAcoustic telemetry (AT) has emerged as a valuable tool for monitoring aquatic animals in both European inland and marine waters over the past two decades. The European Tracking Network (ETN) initiative has played a pivotal role in promoting collaboration among AT researchers in Europe and has led to a significant increase in the number of tagged and observed aquatic animals in transboundary European waters. While AT benefits decision‐making and delivers essential data to management bodies, its potential for management decision‐making mechanisms has yet to be fully harnessed. We reviewed existing research, studies, and organisational initiatives related to aquatic animal tracking and their utility in fisheries management in European waters. We found that AT has already contributed to many aspects of fisheries management, such as improved understanding of stock dynamics, identification of critical habitats, assessment of migration routes, and evaluation of the effectiveness of conservation measures. However, broader utilisation of tracking technologies is needed. By leveraging the full potential of AT, managers can make more informed decisions to protect, restore, and sustainably manage European waters and creatures that live therein.

COVID-19 restrictions and recreational fisheries in Ontario, Canada: Preliminary insights from an online angler survey

The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding public health mitigation strategies have altered many facets of human life. And yet, little is known about how public health measures have impacted complex socio-ecological systems such as recreational fisheries. Using an online snowball survey, we targeted resident anglers in Ontario, Canada, to obtain preliminary insights on how the pandemic has impacted recreational fishing and related activity. We also explored angler perspectives on pandemic-related restrictions and other aspects of fisheries management. Our results point to the value of recreational fisheries for the mental and physical well-being of participants, as well as the value and popularity of outdoor recreation during a pandemic. Although angling effort and fish consumption appeared to decline during the early phases of the pandemic, approximately 21 % of the anglers who responded to our survey self-identified as new entrants who had begun or resumed fishing in that time. Self-reported motivations to fish during the pandemic suggest that free time, importance to mental and physical health, and desires for self-sufficiency caused some anglers to fish more, whereas a lack of free time, poor or uncertain accessibility, and perceived risks caused some anglers to fish less. Respondents also expressed their desires for more clear and consistent communication about COVID-19 fishing restrictions from governments, and viewed angling as a safe pandemic activity. Information on recreational angler behaviours, motivations, and perspectives during the pandemic may prove valuable to fisheries managers and policy makers looking to optimize their strategies for confronting this and other similar crises.

Use of computer vision onboard fishing vessels to quantify catches: The iObserver

Monitoring plays a key role in all aspects of fisheries management, including those related to sustainable management of resources, the economic performance of the fishery, and the distribution of benefits from the exploitation of the fishery and environment. In this manuscript, an electronic device (the iObserver) is described, which aims to improve fisheries monitoring by identifying and quantifying fishing catches on board commercial vessels. This device is located over the conveyor belt in the fishing sorting area to automatically take pictures of the entire catch during fish separation. Each picture is analyzed using open source image recognition software to identify the number of individuals, the species and length of each individual based on skin descriptors (color, texture), and shape. The iObserver is equipped with a graphical and user-friendly interface. The information provided by the iObserver is sent to the RedBox software, where it is aggregated and augmented with vessel instrumentation data, such as location, velocity, and course. Then, the data are sent to a shore-based center to be used for different purposes, including the following: feeding mathematical models describing stock evolution; identifying those regions with a large presence of individuals below a Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS); and supporting administrative decisions about a given fishing region.

Aspects of Fishery Management, Job Satisfaction, and Well-Being among Commercial Fishermen in the Northeast Region of the United States

The complexity and rapid changes in fishery management approaches have forced fishermen to adopt strategies that may not be congruent with the original appeal of fishing as an occupation. Changes in fish populations and resulting efforts to manage stocks can impact job characteristics that influence job satisfaction (social–psychological needs, basic needs, and self-actualization) and potentially well-being. This hypothesis is addressed through examination of job satisfaction and well-being among 478 fishermen in three subregions of the northeastern United States. The results demonstrate that differences between the mix of regional fisheries and attitudes toward regulations affect two components of job satisfaction and well-being but not self-actualization. Management's attempts to reduce fishing effort therefore need to account for the persistence of self-actualization by either developing appropriate alternative occupations or preparing for the consequences of lower job satisfaction on the well-being of fishermen forced to leave the occupation.

Understanding Factors That Influence Stakeholder Trust of Natural Resource Science and Institutions

Building trust between resource users and natural resource institutions is essential when creating conservation policies that rely on stakeholders to be effective. Trust can enable the public and agencies to engage in cooperative behaviors toward shared goals and address shared problems. Despite the increasing attention that trust has received recently in the environmental management literature, the influence that individual cognitive and behavioral factors may play in influencing levels of trust in resource management institutions, and their associated scientific assessments, remains unclear. This paper uses the case of fisheries management in the northeast to explore the relationships between an individual's knowledge of the resource, perceptions of resource health, and participatory experience on levels of trust. Using survey data collected from 244 avid recreational anglers in the Northeast U.S., we test these relationships using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that participation in fisheries management is associated with increased trust across all aspects of fisheries management. In addition, higher ratings of resource health by anglers are associated with higher levels of trust of state and regional institutions, but not federal institutions or scientific methods.

In situ measurement of coastal ocean movements and survival of juvenile Pacific salmon

Many salmon populations in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans have experienced sharply decreasing returns and high ocean mortality in the past two decades, with some populations facing extirpation if current marine survival trends continue. Our inability to monitor the movements of marine fish or to directly measure their survival precludes experimental tests of theories concerning the factors regulating fish populations, and thus limits scientific advance in many aspects of fisheries management and conservation. Here we report a large-scale synthesis of survival and movement rates of free-ranging juvenile salmon across four species, 13 river watersheds, and 44 release groups of salmon smolts (>3,500 fish tagged in total) in rivers and coastal ocean waters, including an assessment of where mortality predominantly occurs during the juvenile migration. Of particular importance, our data indicate that, over the size range of smolts tagged, (i) smolt survival was not strongly related to size at release, (ii) tag burden did not appear to strongly reduce the survival of smaller animals, and (iii) for at least some populations, substantial mortality occurred much later in the migration and more distant from the river of origin than generally expected. Our findings thus have implications for determining where effort should be invested to improve the accuracy of salmon forecasting, to understand the mechanisms driving salmon declines, and to predict the impact of climate change on salmon stocks.

Defining and Characterizing Coolwater Streams and Their Fish Assemblages in Michigan and Wisconsin, USA

AbstractCoolwater streams, which are intermediate in character between coldwater “trout” streams and more diverse warmwater streams, occur widely in temperate regions but are poorly understood. We used modeled water temperature data and fish assemblage samples from 371 stream sites in Michigan and Wisconsin to define, describe, and map coolwater streams and their fish assemblages. We defined coolwater streams as ones having summer water temperatures suitable for both coldwater and warmwater species and used the observed distributions of the 99 fish species at our sites to identify coolwater thermal boundaries. Coolwater streams had June‐through‐August mean water temperatures of 17.0–20.5°C, July mean temperatures of 17.5–21.0°C, and maximum daily mean temperatures of 20.7–24.6°C. We delineated two subclasses of coolwater streams: “cold transition” (having July mean water temperatures of 17.5–19.5°C) and “warm transition” (having July mean temperatures of 19.5–21.0°C). Fish assemblages in coolwater streams were variable and lacked diagnostic species but were generally intermediate in species richness and overlapped in composition with coldwater and warmwater streams. In cold‐transition streams, coldwater (e.g., salmonids and cottids) and transitional species (e.g., creek chub Semotilus atromaculatus, eastern blacknose dace Rhynichthys atratulus, white sucker Catostomus commersonii, and johnny darter Etheostoma nigrum) were common and warmwater species (e.g., ictalurids and centrarchids) were uncommon; in warm‐transition streams warmwater and transitional species were common and coldwater species were uncommon. Coolwater was the most widespread and abundant thermal class in Michigan and Wisconsin, comprising 65% of the combined total stream length in the two states (cold‐transition streams being more common than warm‐transition ones). Our approach can be used to identify and characterize coolwater streams elsewhere in the temperate region, benefiting many aspects of fisheries management and environmental protection.

The Impact of Open Access to Fishing Grounds: The History of Jens Warming's Model

The paper examines the Dane Jens Warming's published and unpublished works on fisheries economics from the period 1911–38. In 1911 Warming published a highly original article on the problems of open access to a common property resource. The article contains the same results as H. Scott Gordon presented in his seminal article on fisheries economics from 1954. Warming frequently returned to his model later in life. The reason for doing so was that the model not only dealt with an important aspect of fisheries management but also illustrated a more general problem relating to the functioning of a competitive economy. Special attention is drawn to an unpublished manuscript from 1926, which includes Warming's own English presentation of a new version of the model. The new model became the main ingredient in a new article on fishery from 1931 and was included in the sections on fishery in Warming's textbooks on the Danish society published in 1929 and 1938. The paper draws attention to Warming's efforts to make his contemporaries take an interest in his publications. New findings in the archives indicate that Warming attempted to make Scandinavian marine biologists aware of his views on fisheries economics from the very outset.

Introduction to Genetics of Subpolar Fish and Invertebrates

This 20th Wakefield Symposium, ‘The genetics of subpolar fish and invertebrates’, is the successor of the 11th Wakefield Symposium, ‘Genetics of sub- arctic fish and shellfish’, which was held in Juneau, Alaska in 1993. In the introduction to that sympo- sium (Gharrett & Smoker 1994), it was noted that: ‘beginning in the 1960s, modern tools of genetic analysis began to be broadly applied in fisheries science’, and that ‘within the past decade (referring to the 1980s), fisheries genetics had entered the main- stream of fisheries resource utilization’. That obser- vation may be an understatement in today’s world of fisheries science. Once-vigorous fisheries in many parts of the world have failed, growing demand for fisheries products has led to full utilization of many remaining capture resources and is driving an increase in aquaculture productivity, and the role of aquacul- ture has increased dramatically ([FAO 2002]). Looming over concerns of lost stocks and persistent erosion of genetic variability are predictions of global warming, which may further tax genetic resources. One of the consequences of these developments is an increased interest in and reliance on genetic applications to many aspects of fisheries management, aquaculture, and conservation.

Angling and conservation at Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England: economics, attitudes and impacts

Abstract1. An extensive questionnaire (181 questions) was devised to examine the relationships and attitudes of angling clubs to their local environment and conservation organizations. Questions related to the fishery itself and the economics of the club were also asked. The questionnaire was sent to 59 coarse‐angling clubs that fished shallow Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) in England. SSSIs are statutorily designated sites of the highest conservation value in Britain. Thirty‐one valid questionnaires were returned.2. The average cost of leasing a water body was £645 ha−1 year−1 (1997 prices) and an adult angler paid, on average, £67 year−1 to fish at a club. The overall profit made by an angling club in an SSSI was, on average, £1760 year−1. Most clubs were not run on a profit basis. Compensatory cash payments were unlikely to influence attitudes to restrictions on stocking.3. Angling clubs generally had a positive attitude to nature conservation and its enhancement. In 83% of cases, where stocking restrictions had been introduced by English Nature (the statutory nature conservation organization in England) the club involved agreed with the decision. Only 10% of respondents thought that a close season was detrimental to fishing. Aesthetic qualities and tranquillity were considered very important for a fishery to be successful and these were seen to be consistent with nature conservation values.4. There were areas of concern. Common carp was the fish most likely to be stocked, largely because of financial benefits. Nonetheless, a trend towards carp stocking may have reached a peak. Management culling of fish such as pike took place at 42% of sites and some clubs believed that stronger ties with environmental groups should not be pursued. It may be some time before certain aspects of fishery management, suggested by English Nature as best conservation practice, are accepted by all angling clubs in SSSIs, but attitudes were found to be more positive than often assumed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rights Based Fisheries Management in Canada

The conflict between efficiency and maximization of employment colours all aspects of fisheries management in Canada, including implementation of rights based fisheries management regimes. Even though rights based systems are strongly based on considerations of efficiency, sometimes at the expense of maximization of employment, a number of such regimes have been put in place in recent years. These are generally little known and little analyzed. This paper attempts to address this gap in our knowledge by surveying such schemes. For a number of reasons outlined in the paper, rights based regimes in Canada have not usually involved transferability or divisibility of quotas. Nonetheless, efficiency gains have been made where such schemes have been implemented. These are illustrated in case studies of the Atlantic offshore groundfish fishery and the Atlantic purse seine herring fishery.

The MEI Symposium—Overview and Observations

The morphoedaphic index (MEI), in both its original and derivative forms, is a powerful tool for certain aspects of fishery management and a challenging concept to fishery scientists. Its development and an appreciation of its applicability are still evolving but have reached the point where a state-of-the-art review and consideration of what the future might hold are appropriate. A concept similar to that of the MEI has been developed and tested for nutrient loading-phytoplankton standing crops in lakes. Links between the two models and associated ecological theory are evidence for the fundamental soundness of the MEIˈs theoretical basis. Successful applications demonstrate the utility of the MEI and similar relationships for several types of fishery management problems.