Determining management preferences in a multimethod consumptive recreational fishery

Abstract

Understanding behavioral responses of recreational fishers to management changes is fundamental for effective policy making. However, given the diverse motivations and nonmarket nature of recreational fishing, evaluating fishers' preferences is nontrivial. This study examined fishers' management preferences toward different management tools (i.e., a new measure or a change in the setting for an existing measure) in a highly consumptive recreational fishery. A combination of a discrete choice experiment and an opinion-based survey explored the potential heterogeneity in management preferences in the Tasmanian Rock Lobster fishery. Although the fishery has extensive management in place, further restrictions are required to limit recreational harvest in support of a strategy to achieve a stock rebuilding target. As a diverse fishery, with various fishing methods and a range of activity levels, it is expected that the perceptions of management changes vary across fisher subgroups. A phone survey was used to ask fishers' opinions on how effective different management tools are at restricting catch and if they supported or opposed the tool. Additionally, a discrete choice experiment was used to assess if fishers' utility is associated with a management tool and to what extent fishers are willing to trade a change in one management tool for a change in another. Results show that there are both homogenous and heterogeneous management preferences in the fishery across fisher subgroups. There was consensual aversion by all fisher subgroups toward changes in management settings that directly limit the catch of lobster, including a reduction in daily bag limit and shortened season length. Other changes to management settings, such as an increase in the minimum size limit, have less consensus in preference between fisher groups, and any changes in these tools could differentially impact fisher subgroups. The results from this research can support managers in identifying whether and to what extent intra-sector separation for the purposes of designing and implementing new management measures and settings is warranted, on the basis that it can increase effectiveness of achieving management and the likelihood of maximizing net utility within a fishery.

Lower possession limits and shorter seasons directly reduce for-hire fishing effort in a multispecies marine recreational fishery

“…In other harvest-oriented fisheries, anglers express strong preferences for higher possession limits (e.g. Mackay et al 2020). Reductions in possession limits and complete closures reduce anglers' harvest capacity and therefore their expected satisfaction, resulting in reduced fishing effort D r a f t overall if anglers are unwilling to substitute less-restricted species (Powell et al, 2010).…”

“…Beaudreau et al 2018;Gentner 2004;Powers and Anson 2018), or they may choose to leave the fishery (e.g. Holzer and McConnell 2017;Mackay et al 2020;Whitehead et al 2015). Restrictive regulations may not result in the expected reduction in harvest in the presence of compensatory behavior.…”

Consumptive and Non-Consumptive Uses of Water Beetles (Aquatic coleopterans) in Sub-Saharan Traditional Rituals

“…Recreational fishing can either be non-consumptive or consumptive. According to [65,66], recreational fishing is considered consumptive if it involves the exploitation of fish stocks. It is considered non-consumptive if the fish are merely caught and then released (catch and release) [66].…”

“…According to [65,66], recreational fishing is considered consumptive if it involves the exploitation of fish stocks. It is considered non-consumptive if the fish are merely caught and then released (catch and release) [66]. The catch-and-release interaction differs from this group of uses (catch-use-release) because the recreational fishing counterpart does not involve the "use" phase of the organism.…”

Exploring social-ecological trade-offs in fisheries using a coupled food web and human behavior model

“…Key data gaps to fill include discovering the extent to which a previous trip influences a fisher's decision to fish and if a successful trip increases satisfaction more than an unsuccessful trip decreases it, which has been suggested by an ABM of a coral reef recreational fishery (Shafer 2007). Ideally, these data would be collected from surveys of the recreational fishing community in Narragansett Bay because this could differ between locations due to diverse behavior among recreational fishers (Mackay et al 2020). Some useful survey questions comprise how likely they would be to keep or release a keeper, as well as how much their interest in fishing would change depending on their previous fishing success.…”