Examining changes in participation in recreational fisheries in England and Wales

Abstract

Inland fisheries in England and Wales have high economic and social values. Managing participation to maximise fishery performance is key to maintaining this status. The capital value of fishing rights for migratory salmonid fisheries is €165 million. Coarse fisheries contribute €1030 million to the economy. The central tenet to increasing participation in recreational salmonid fisheries is that an increase in stock size will result in more anglers accessing the fishery. This was examined for salmon on the rivers Usk and Lune where exploitation restrictions increased the number of salmon available to anglers. On the River Lune, the number of salmon available postintervention increased by 66%. There was no significant increase in catch while the number of anglers decreased by 16.3%. On the River Usk, the closure of the net fishery potentially resulted in an additional 1200 salmon being available. Following closure, there was no significant change in rod catch or in the number of anglers. Increased participation is dependent less upon stock manipulation for coarse fisheries and more upon facilitating the activity. In recent years, urban fishery development programmes have provided improved access to local fishing opportunity. Also, new anglers have been targeted through campaigns such as Get Hooked on Fishing and the Scout Angler Badge. K E Y W O R D S :angling participation, coarse fish, fishing opportunity, marketing, recreational fisheries, Salmo salar.

A fresh look at inland fisheries and their role in food security and livelihoods

“…Some studies report decreasing recreational fisheries participation while others show evidence of possible increases (Aprahamian, Hickley, Shields, & Mawle, 2010;Aps, 2003;Hickley & Tompkins, 1998;Le Goffe & Salanié, 2005), with trends varying across geographical contexts. Although there are also indications of the growth TA B L E 4 National inland fishery catch, expressed as kilogrammes per capita of population (2013 countries and indicate a total of more than 174.5 million recreational fishers, or 6.7 per cent of the population in those countries where recreational fishing is common.…”

Recreational ice fishing on the large Lake Peipsi: socioeconomic importance, variability of ice-cover period, and possible implications for fish stocks

“…In general, recreational inland fishing is recognized to have considerable socioeconomic benefits not only for the individuals directly participating but also for others in both the local and wider communities (Peirson et al, 2001;Arlinghaus et al, 2002;Aprahamian et al, 2010). Recreational angling may contribute significantly to a local tourism industry (Winfield and Durie, 2004;Aas, 2008).…”

Demographic transition among hunters: a temporal analysis of hunter recruitment dedication and motives in Denmark

“…Similar trends have also been observed in Norway (Andersen et al 2010, Statistics Norway 2014. Demographic changes are likely to aff ect hunters ' view on harvest regulations in the future (Aprahamian et al 2010, Johnston et al 2011). For example, by shaping those who are recruited into small game hunting, in the sense that recruits starts their hunting carrier in a management regime with harvest regulations, and the of the tolerance towards an attribute is the novelty of the attribute itself.…”