The recreational fishery off Majorca Island (western Mediterranean): some implications for coastal resource management

Abstract

The sociology and habits of recreational anglers on the Island of Majorca (western Mediterranean) were evaluated using telephone and on-site surveys, as well as fishing logbooks and recreational fishing competitions. The recreational fishery is one of the island's main leisure activities, 5.14% of the population (37 265 people) participating. Enthusiasts tend to be mainly middle class (most anglers own boats moored at marinas), middle-aged males (90% male, mean age 46 ± 2 years). The most popular fishing method is from a boat (62.9%), followed by fishing from shore (32.4%), and spearfishing (3.6%). The mean time spent fishing is 3.86 ± 0.03 h d−1, and more than one type of gear (mean 1.27 ± 0.21) is used simultaneously by a single angler. The frequency of fishing is 4–6 times per month, mainly on holidays and weekends, increasing in summer. The activity has a sizeable impact on the coastal fauna, with diverse catches of at least 1209.25 t year−1 (about 615 000 fishing outings year−1). Thus, the amount of carbon extracted annually is at least 137.34 kg C km−2 year−1, and the recreational fishery removes about 31% of production at trophic level 4. Although these are gross estimates and more detailed study of the effect on trophic level and local production is needed, the values do highlight the pressure the recreational fishery exerts on coastal fish communities. Assuming that this level of exploitation is common to north-shore Mediterranean countries, there may be cause for concern about sustainable exploitation in the recreational fishery, and the effectiveness of current protection measures is discussed. Despite the limitations of the study, recreational fisheries clearly should be taken into account when considering measures for fisheries management. Moreover, fishing has considerable social import, and the benefits must be taken into account when investments to protect exploited resources are being contemplated.

Effects of recreational fishing on three fish species from the <i>Posidonia oceanica</i> meadows off Minorca (Balearic archipelago, western Mediterranean)

“…A fish assemblage including about 40 species inhabits the meadows of P. oceanica off the Balearic Archipelago (Massutí, 1965;Grau et al, 1993;Reñones et al, 1995), but only three species (C. julis, D. annularis and S. scriba) represent the bulk of the catch of the recreational fishery (Morales-Nin et al, 2005;this study). This is because most of these species (Gobidae, Gobiesocidae, Syngnathidae and most Labridae) have mouth gapes that are too small to be caught with the hooks regularly used in the fishery.…”

“…Pickett and Pawson (1994) assessed the relevance of recreational angling for a marine species in Europe for the first time and concluded that sport anglers generated half the total catch of sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) off the United Kingdom. More recently, Coll et al (2004) and Chavoin and Boudouresque (2004) demonstrated the role of recreational spearfishing in the depletion of large fish from Mediterranean rocky reefs and Morales-Nin et al (2005) pointed out that 31% of the annual fish production at trophic level 4 is removed from the coastal waters of Majorca Island (Balearic Archipelago, western Mediterranean) by sport fishing. However, information about the relevance of recreational fishing in the Mediterranean is still scarce and limited to rocky bottoms (Sánchez Lizaso et al, 2000;Francour et al, 2001 and references herein).…”

“…The fish assemblages inhabiting P. oceanica meadows in the western Mediterranean are dominated by small species seldom exceeding 20 cm in total length (Massutí, 1965;Bell and Harmelin-Vivien, 1982;Seloudre and Chauvet, 1986;Bouchereau et al 1989;Reñones et al, 1995;Francour, 1997;Jiménez et al, 1997;Francour, 2000;Garcia-Rubies and Corbera, 2002). Despite the low commercial value of these small species (Lloris and Meseguer, 2002), they have a major contribution to the global catch by the recreational fishery and it has been suggested that they are exploited intensely (Morales-Nin et al, 2005). Previous studies have demonstrated that recreational angling on rocky areas may change the reproductive biology of at least one of these species (Harmelin et al, 1995), but information about the impact of fishing on the meadow-dwelling populations is contradictory (Francour, 1994;Harmelin et al, 1995;Francour, 2000).…”

Qualitative analysis of recreational fisher response and the ecosystem impacts of management strategies in a data-limited situation

“…Despite numerous calls for the importance of recreational fishing to have greater acknowledgement in fisheries management (Kearney et al 1996, Morales-Nin et al 2005, there remains a paucity of long-term data on recreational fisheries, their impacts, and social and economic importance (Lewin et al 2006). Recreational fishing may have similar impacts on fish stocks (Coll et al 2004) and ecosystems 55 (Lewin et al 2006) as commercial fishing and, in certain areas, can form a greater proportion of the total catch than the commercial harvest (Kearney et al 1996, McPhee et al 2002.…”

“…Recreational fishing may have similar impacts on fish stocks (Coll et al 2004) and ecosystems 55 (Lewin et al 2006) as commercial fishing and, in certain areas, can form a greater proportion of the total catch than the commercial harvest (Kearney et al 1996, McPhee et al 2002. Recreational fishing can play an important role in the social dynamics of communities (Finn and Loomis 2001, Henry and Lyle 2003, Morales-Nin et al 2005 and is a popular activity worldwide, for the provision of food (Burger 60 2002) and as a leisure activity (Henry and Lyle 2003). The capacity for fishers to change their behaviour at will, perhaps targeting an alternative species (Gentner 2004) or travelling further to fish (Arlinghaus 2005), determines that managers must consider potential changes in fisher behaviour when assessing the overall impact of a recreational management strategy on an ecosystem.…”