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15 - Sustainable inland fisheries – perspectives from the recreational, commercial and subsistence sectors from around the globe
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- By Steven J. Cooke, Carleton University, Vivian M. Nguyen, Carleton University, John M. Dettmers, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Robert Arlinghaus, Humboldt University, Michael C. Quist, University of Idaho, Denis Tweddle, South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity, Olaf L. F. Weyl, South African Institute of Aquatic Biodiversity, Rajeev Raghavan, St. Albert's College, Marcela Portocarrero-Aya, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Naturales Alexander von Humboldt, Edwin Agudelo Cordoba, Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científi cas SINCHI, Ian G. Cowx, University of Hull
- Edited by Gerard P. Closs, University of Otago, New Zealand, Martin Krkosek, University of Toronto, Julian D. Olden, University of Washington
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- Book:
- Conservation of Freshwater Fishes
- Published online:
- 05 December 2015
- Print publication:
- 03 December 2015, pp 467-505
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- Chapter
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
Globally, freshwater ecosystems provide varied fishing opportunities (herein termed inland fisheries) represented by three sectors: recreational, commercial and subsistence fisheries. From the depths of the Laurentian Great Lakes to the shallow floodplains of the Ganges River, and from under-ice fisheries in Scandinavia to the rice fields of Southeast Asia, fish and other aquatic life are omnipresent components of fluvial and lacustrine systems. Freshwater fishes generate many ecosystem services that extend beyond their use in fisheries (Holmlund & Hammer, 1999; Cowx & Portocarrereo, 2011). Given the diversity of freshwater fish assemblages, levels of fisheries productivity, cultural norms, density of human population and socioeconomic conditions, it is not surprising that there is immense variation in how, why and the extent to which freshwater fishes and other aquatic animals are exploited. Whether it be sustaining livelihoods through the provision of essential nutrients, generating income, or enabling leisure time with family, inland fisheries are important. Although there are accepted definitions for the three fishing sectors (i.e. UN FAO – see below), ambiguities and exceptions remain that complicate appraisal and management.
Compared with marine waters where industrial-scale commercial fisheries predominate, inland fisheries tend to be smaller in scale and catches generally do not enter the global marketplace. Moreover, whereas exploitation pressures are the primary threat facing marine fish populations and marine ecosystems, in inland systems there are multiple threats including many unrelated to fishing (Arlinghaus et al., 2002). Indeed, declines in freshwater fish fauna are implicated with broad-scale economic activities such as flow regulation, hydropower, agriculture, urbanisation and pollution (Limburg et al., 2011; Chapters 4 and 9). Reflecting the multiple threats, freshwater fishes are among the most imperilled taxa on the globe (Strayer & Dudgeon, 2010; Chapter 2), freshwater biodiversity is in crisis (Dudgeon et al., 2006) and freshwater ecosystems are among the most altered (Kennish, 2002; Malmqvist & Rundle, 2002). Despite the many threats to inland fishes and fisheries, they receive disproportionally less interest and attention from the global conservation community and international political spheres. Indeed, global capture statistics underrepresented inland fisheries and their contribution to global production (Welcomme et al., 2010; Welcomme, 2011a,b), partly because of the diffuse nature of inland fisheries (Beard et al., 2011). By contrast, it is comparatively easy to generate data for commercial fisheries where products sold on established domestic and export markets can be readily monitored.
Overcoming human obstacles to conservation of recreational fishery resources, with emphasis on central Europe
- ROBERT ARLINGHAUS
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 33 / Issue 1 / March 2006
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 26 April 2006, pp. 46-59
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- Article
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Recreational fisheries are the dominant or sole user of many coastal and most inland fish stocks in industrialized societies. Recreational angling can negatively affect fish populations, but appropriate management approaches to address these impacts are often lacking. Overall, privately-governed European recreational fisheries systems offer suitable conditions to reconcile resource use with resource conservation because access restriction is possible, decision-making structures are simple and management scales are small. This increases the hope that the race to fish may be less pronounced than in open-access commercial fisheries. To achieve harmony between use and conservation values, a thorough understanding of the human dimension is paramount, yet approaches including this are underrepresented in contemporary recreational fisheries science and management. Based on theoretical considerations, literature review and personal experiences, this paper presents key human obstacles to the reconciliation of recreational fishery resource use and resource conservation, with emphasis on private fishing rights regimes of central Europe. Nine obstacles are identified: (1) lack of social priority; (2) lack of integrated approaches; (3) lack of cooperative institutional linkages; (4) lack of systems thinking; (5) lack of research and monitoring; (6) lack of shared values and dominance of stereotyped perceptions; (7) lack of consideration for regional fish-angler dynamics; (8) lack of objective communication of scientific findings; and (9) lack of critical self-reflection among individual anglers. Potential solutions to overcome the identified constraints briefly discussed include: (1) evaluation of the socioeconomic benefits of angling; (2) rehabilitation of ecosystem structure and function on larger scales; (3) facilitation of structured cooperation between stakeholders and management units; (4) application of complex systems approach; (5) increased funding for long-term monitoring; (6) fostering of common values of different stake-holders; (7) active adaptive management of angling effort on regional scales; (8) intensified communication of research findings; and (9) conviction of anglers to meet personal targets by more restrictive regulations. Increasing research and management efforts related to the social component of recreational fisheries will improve reconciliation of resource use and resource conservation in traditional recreational fisheries management. It is a matter of societal values whether it is judged necessary to do so on a broader scale.