What constitutes effective governance of recreational
fisheries?—A global review https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/faf.12417

@AnglersAlliance @AnglingTrust @RecFishingEP

"effective recreational fisheries governance requires explicit acknowledgement of recreational fisheries with a clear legal definition in Policy, a well-developed Policy statement, extensive co-management processes...

...clearly defined biological, economic and social monitoring structures and
efficient and transparent cost recovery mechanisms."

"the triple bottom-line performance of recreational fisheries often far exceeds that of commercial sectors;
and particularly so when catch and release fishing is employed to minimize negative effects upon supporting ecosystems and highly valued target stocks."

"Unfortunately, the initial rise in recreational fishery participation is seldom matched by a concomitant
institutional response, which should include increased recognition of the opportunities, risks and holistic management needs of the entire fishery sector"

Even in cases where the socio-economic potential
of sustainable recreational fisheries far exceeds that of commercial fisheries, the recognition of recreational fisheries, and the incorporation of their stakeholders into decision-making processes has generally remained elusive"

"governance support for the implementation of rights-based mechanisms has the potential to achieve triple bottom-line benefits supporting both recreational and
commercial fishery sectors"

"The aims of recreational fisheries governance should
be one of sustainability, include the conservation of biodiversity (at local, regional, national and international levels), and maximize the social and economic benefits to society"

"Less than half (48%) of the respondents felt that recreational fishing was well-defined and that stakeholder input was adequately considered in Policy"

"Overall, there was a perception amongst respondents that recreational fisheries receive less recognition in fisheries policies or acts, were less effectively managed, and were subject to poorer levels of compliance when compared with industrial and small-scale fisheries"

"They concluded that a single definition was necessary to facilitate a common approach to evaluate participation, to highlight the socio-economic benefits of recreational fishing, and to develop effective legislation for recreational fisheries."

"Ultimately, legislators should ensure that the definition
of recreational fisheries to be used in Policy should clearly distinguish this sector from the others. This may be particularly complex in countries with a large subsistence sector"

"Economic impact assessments of recreational fisheries are therefore considered to be a critical first step towards the development of efficient recreational fisheries governance (Southwick et al., 2016)."

"better recreational fisheries governance practices may be developed in response to societal pressure on the management agencies and it is likely that participants in the recreational fishery or in competing sectors may have a significant role to play as agents driving...

...positive change. This was echoed by Arlinghaus et al. (2019) who concluded that recreational fisher organizations are critical for the integration of this sector into management processes and monitoring"

"Besides weak co-management structures, there were notable issues fisheries monitoring, compliance and the development and transparency of funding mechanisms in the majority of countries. Fisheries monitoring is likely to remain a problem in recreational fisheries primarily...

"because of the broad, diffuse distribution and high mobility of recreational fishers (Post et al., 2002) and their predominantly open-access nature. However, there is growing recognition that the cost prohibitive routine fisheries independent and...

...dependent (e.g. NOAA, 2015) surveys need to be complimented or even replaced by mobilizing anglers themselves to facilitate data collection (Arlinghaus et al., 2019"

"However, there is increasing recognition that the normative concept, which assumes that compliance
behaviour is also determined by an individual's morality, perceptions of legitimacy of governance and social and cultural norms, can be used to improve rec. fisheries compliance"

"The lack of transparency in the use of funding allocated for recreational fisheries governance (and particularly money from recreational fishing licences) is a major concern as it will most likely reduce the perceptions of legitimacy of governance structures and specifically...

...the management agency. The poor perceptions of management legitimacy can have negative impacts for the efficacy of management outcomes and it is therefore recommended that clear and transparent mechanisms are developed to facilitate communication
of this with rec. fishers."

"When discussing the development of world class recreational fisheries governance, one of the overwhelming issues is the challenge of data deficiency. For example, how does one quantify the
efficacy of governance without having quantifiable and comparative indicators...

...(e.g. level of compliance with regulations, frequency of intersectoral conflicts)? This weakness is something that should be addressed in a coherent way, for example through the development of appropriate indicators and standardized methods of measurement to develop a...

...recreational fisheries governance efficacy index.
However, until such indices are developed, it is likely that the use of expert opinion will remain the most relevant method to gauge the efficacy of contemporary recreational fisheries governance structures"

"While we acknowledge that recreational fisheries and the contexts in which they exist are extremely diverse, we have, based on the opinion of experts in our study and our policy reviews, developed seven broad recommendations for what we perceive to be a “world
class approach...

...to rec. fisheries governance.” These offer
broadly applicable practices that could be used to inform improvements in existing national recreational fisheries policies, as well as for development of new policies in countries where there are no existing
governance frameworks...

Recommendations

1. Assess and recognize the socio-ecological importance of rec. fisheries, explicitly acknowledging them in fisheries policy, have clear legal definition for the sector specifying whether sale of catch is allowed & differentiates it from other fisheries.

2. Develop a Policy statement clearly articulating plans and intentions relating to rec fisheries. outlining access to the resource, be developed in cooperation with all fisheries sectors, be informed by social, cultural, economic, ecological factors, & be responsive to change.

3. Cooperate with all relevant stakeholders to develop recreational fisheries management plans and encourage cooperative decision making.

4. Monitor biological, economic and social impacts of the recreational fishery, with clear responsibilities for data collection and incorporation of data into the management process.

5. Implement cost recovery strategies for rec. fisheries. The user-pays mechanism appears to be the most viable method, especially where the funding generated is restricted to use for recreational fisheries and transparent reporting of the use of this
funding is implemented.

6. Include a broad range of mechanisms to support compliance activities, as the successful implementation is dependent on compliance with fisheries regulations. This should include education and awareness activities that promote compliance and encourage ethical behaviour.

7. Frame governance in the context of a changing environment that includes promoting adaptive planning, outlining contingency plans in case of stock collapse, incorporating shifting species into regulatory frameworks, and improving knowledge of climate
change within the sector.