Using social media to identify recreational bluefish angling in the Mediterranean and Black Sea

Insights on the distribution, catch and release and public sentiment towards recreational angling of mahseers—A study of YouTube videos from India

“…Although using internet data as a complementary tool to get insights on various dimensions of RA is acquiring popularity among conservation scientists (Eryaşar & Saygu, 2022; Sbragaglia et al, 2020) and many anglers across the globe are uploading videos of their angling activities on social media, only 93 videos of mahseer angling undertaken in India in the last decade were available on YouTube. In comparison with the angling videos of marine fishes being added to this social media platform from different nations (Belhabib et al, 2016; Eryaşar & Saygu, 2022; Giovos et al, 2018; Sbragaglia et al, 2020, 2021, 2022), this number is noticeably small. Interestingly, even though during the time period 2010–2012, the internet, cheap video cameras and video editing tools were not much popular in India, a handful of angling videos of T. khudree and T. putitora were uploaded on YouTube.…”

“…Experiencing and overcoming the challenges posed by the fish caught on the hook is one of the main motivators for recreational anglers (Beardmore et al, 2011; Fedler & Ditton, 1994; Young et al, 2016). However, many use RA as an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of nature, leisure and relaxation, spending time with family and so forth (Birdsong et al, 2021; Eryaşar & Saygu, 2022). Some anglers achieve angler pride and satisfaction by catching the biggest fish called the ‘prize or trophy catch’ (Beardmore et al, 2011), while others aim for more catches or multiple species.…”

“…With the availability of pocket‐friendly and easily accessible videography and editing tools, YouTube, a video‐sharing website, has evolved as a very popular medium of self‐expression and communication (Burgess & Green, 2018). Freely available videos of angling and the catch uploaded by recreational anglers from different regions of the world and the adherence to Creative Commons license makes YouTube a valuable digital resource for researchers interested in the ecological and human dimensions of RA (Eryaşar & Saygu, 2022; Giovos et al, 2018; Sbragaglia et al, 2020; Struthers et al, 2015). Along with providing vital ecological information on the focal fish species such as their distribution, range shift, migration and competition from invasive alien fishes (IAF), YouTube videos can also shed light on the behaviours of anglers in the natural fish habitats and the societal responses they receive.…”

“…Using the internet and social media data as a complement to the extremely resource-demanding conventional methods popularly used for monitoring human-animal interactions including RA has become a trend in the recent past (Carter et al, 2015;Venturelli et al, 2017). For instance, many researchers have used citizen science-based social media data to explore the impact of marine RA in the Mediterranean (Eryas ¸ar & Saygu, 2022;Giovos et al, 2018;Sbragaglia et al, 2020Sbragaglia et al, , 2021 and in West-African countries (Belhabib et al, 2016). Unfortunately, such an attempt to use the internet/social media data to get insights on the impacts of RA on mahseers has not commenced yet.…”

Recreational angling and spearfishing on social media: insights on harvesting patterns, social engagement and sentiments related to the distributional range shift of a marine invasive species

“…Seasonal latitudinal migration are well-described for the bluefish (Lund Jr and Maltezos, 1970;Shepherd et al, 2006;Silvano and Begossi, 2010;Brodie et al, 2018). Interestingly, a recent study showed that seasonal migration of the bluefish can be characterized using videos posted on YouTube by recreational anglers when geographical locations are explicitly considered (Eryaşar and Saygu, 2022). In our study, seasonal migration could have confounded the seasonal catchability of the species considering that our results are based on videos covering the entire coast of Italy where this species is expected to perform latitudinal migration following seasonal temperature changes.…”