“Sport Fisheries” (Or Marine Recreational Fisheries)
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Fianl Report March 2007 EU contract FISH/2004/011 on Sport Fisheries (or Marine Recreational Fisheries) in the EU Prepared for For The European Commission Directorate-General for Fisheries Prepared by M. G. Pawson1, D. Tingley2, G, Padda1, and H. Glenn 2 1. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas), Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK. 2. Centre for the Economics & Management of Aquatic Resources (CEMARE) Boathouse no 6, College Road, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, PO1 3LJ, UK. Correspondence to M. G. Pawson; Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 OHT, UK tel: +44 1502 524436; e-mail: [email protected]. Contents 1 Contents 1 Executive summary 5 Chapter 1. Introduction and Background 7 Outline and objectives of study. 7 Chapter 2. Definitions 12 Introduction 12 Methodology 12 Definitions 12 Chapter 3. Description of Marine Recreational Fisheries 18 Methodology 18 Baltic RAC (Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) 19 Nordic Countries generally 19 Norway 21 Germany 22 Denmark 23 Finland 25 Sweden 26 Poland 27 North Sea RAC (UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway) 29 Belgium 29 Netherlands 31 North Western Waters RAC (France, Rep. Ireland, UK,) 32 Ireland 32 United Kingdom 35 South Western Waters (France, Spain, Portugal, Azores, Madeira and Canary Isles) 41 Portugal and Azores 41 Spain. 43 Mediterranean RAC (Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia) 44 Mediterranean: General 44 Cyprus 46 France (Mediterranean coastline) 47 Greece 47 Italy 50 Malta 51 Spain 52 (Balearic Islands) 52 Landlocked countries 52 Austria 52 Former Czechoslovakia 53 2 Chapter 4. An Evaluation of The Socio-Economic Importance of Marine Recreational Fisheries in Europe 54 Introduction 54 Overview of findings 54 Data availability 54 Magnitude and profile of participants in sector 57 Activity and effort 61 Economic importance 63 North Sea 81 North Western Waters 85 Ireland 85 United Kingdom 91 South Western Waters 99 France (Atlantic coast) 99 Portugal 102 Azores 103 Spain (Atlantic coast) 105 Mediterranean 105 MRF in the Mediterranean (Spain, France and Italy), with particular focus on tuna fishing 105 France (Mediterranean Coast) 106 Italy 108 Spain (Mediterranean coast, including Balearic Islands) 110 Greece 112 Chapter 5. The Environmental Effects of Fishing on Marine Ecosystems 114 Introduction 114 Benthic fauna and habitat 115 Introduction 115 Direct effects of fishing gears 115 Active fishing techniques 115 Conclusions 124 Fish community structure 124 Introduction 124 Extinctions 125 Intraspecific diversity 125 Size structure 126 Life history traits 126 Conclusions 127 Summary 130 Chapter 6. Issues and Management 132 Introduction. 132 Catch and release 134 Fisheries-induced selection 137 Underwater spear fishing. 138 3 Ecosystem impacts of recreational fishing 139 Habitat degradation arising from fishing 140 Lobbying 141 Advances in gear technology 141 Management strategies 141 Allocation. 142 Monitoring of recreational fisheries 143 Conclusions 145 Annex 1. The legal definition and scope of sea fishing for recreation and sport in Europe – in contrast to commercial fishing (Chapter 2). 146 Introduction 146 Belgium 147 Republic of Cyprus 148 Denmark 148 Estonia 150 Finland 151 France 153 Germany 154 Greece 156 Ireland 157 Italy 158 Latvia 159 Lithuania 160 Malta 161 Netherlands 163 Poland 163 Portugal 164 Slovenia 165 Spain 167 Sweden 169 United Kingdom 170 References 174 Annex 2. Information sources and references describing MRF in Europe (Chapter 3)176 Generic References 176 Websites 176 Publications 176 Personal correspondence 177 Nordic Websites 177 Nordic Publications 177 Finland 178 Germany 178 Poland 179 Iceland 179 4 North Sea RAC (United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway)179 UK 179 Belgium 180 North Western Waters RAC: (France, Rep of Ireland, UK) 181 Ireland 181 South Western RAC (France, Spain, Portugal, Azores, Madiera, and Canary Islands) 181 Portugal and Azores 181 Mediterranean RAC (Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia) 182 Publications 182 Greece 184 Spain (Mediterranean) 184 Cyprus 184 Landlocked countries 184 Austria 184 Czech Republic 185 Annex 3. Review of methodology for economic evaluation of MRF (Chapter 4) 186 Introduction 186 Valuing marine recreational fisheries: theoretical overview 186 Economic benefits – an introduction 186 Economic benefits of the MRF activity 188 Non-market benefit valuation methods 190 Regional economic impact estimation methods 193 Comparing marine recreation and commercial fishing activity values 194 Economic values of commercial fishing 194 Methods for comparing marine recreational and commercial fishing values 196 Method 1 – comparing consumer and producer surpluses 197 Robustness of measures to change 197 Method 2 – comparing the economic impact of net expenditures 198 Annex. 4. References on the Economic Evaluation of Marine Recreational Fisheries 201 Annex 5. References on the Environmental Impacts of Fishing (Chapter 5) 206 Annex 6. References for Issues and Management of MRF (Chapter 6) 225 Executive summary 5 This report provides a first assessment of marine recreational fisheries at the EU level. In it we evaluate their importance in environmental, social and economic terms, compared with commercial fisheries, explore public perception of any related problems and issues, and attempt to indicate the most important issues on which fisheries management should concentrate (Call for Tenders FISH/2004/011 “Sport Fisheries”). The study has been carried out by accessing available data (published or through web-sites) and through personal contact with individuals and organisations involved with recreational fisheries in the relevant countries. No original data were derived and, where possible, information was validated from more than one source. The report is divided into 6 chapters, structured in relation to the Terms of Reference of the Tender and broken down by the regions defined for Regional Advisory Committees, viz.: Baltic Sea, North Sea, North Western waters, South Western waters and Mediterranean Sea. In order to “describe sport fisheries at EU level by type of fishing, its social importance (time of occupation, associations, level of organisation), and its level of management by Member States” (TOR 1), it proved necessary to define what is meant by sport fishing in the context of recreational fishing. A review of European Member States’ national legislation (provided in Annex 1) revealed considerable variation in ownership and access to coastal waters/fisheries, and in the legal distinction between sport fishing and other recreational uses of fisheries (for example, where commercial fishing gear is used chiefly for home consumption) and their commercial (catching for sale and profit) counterparts. It has, however, clarified the issue and enabled us to suggest common definitions for the various forms of recreational fishing. Thus, Recreational fishing is fishing which is not deemed to be commercial fishing (i.e. it does not have sale or profit connotations), and is not undertaken for predominantly subsistence purposes. Angling is the activity of catching or attempting to catch fish on hooks, principally by rod and line, whilst recreational anglers do not sell the fish they catch. Sports fishing is generally perceived to be a sub-set of recreational angling, although the distinction varies between countries (and may be absent), is often associated with competitions, and may include underwater spear fishing. The review indicated that we should adopt ‘Marine Recreational Fishing’ for the overall title of the report and, as a consequence, the generic MRF is used wherever we refer to marine recreational fishing. On this basis, an exhaustive search of relevant websites and literature sources has been used to describe the recreational fisheries in each Member State, the gears used, species fished for, and level of involvement (as far as is possible). This information is presented, together with an appreciation of the social importance of these fisheries, management infrastructure (if any), and an exploration of public perception of the interactions between recreational and commercial fisheries and any issues arising (TOR 4: “to explore and summarize the results of existing polls of opinion about both sectors”). The main areas of conflict are competition for resources in terms of sharing mortality/catch and space/gear interactions, for example between anglers and nets set close inshore or around wrecks, and the perception that the use of some gears leads to over fishing. In northwest Europe (UK, Ireland, France and Norway), the availability of large fish (possibly with a degree of exclusive access) is important to sport anglers, who increasingly practice catch and release as a conservation aid. 6 Much of this information is pertinent to TOR 3: to describe and, where possible, assess the economic importance of sport fisheries and associated industries such as tourism, transport, tackle manufacturing and sale, etc. We have collated and reviewed readily available published information and data on the economic impact of recreational fishing (it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between marine and freshwater activity) in the different Member States. Using readily accessible data for a variety of years ranging from 1997-2005, but lacking figures for