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Evidence Project Final Report

NoteIn line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Defra aims to place the results of its completed research projects in the public domain wherever possible. The Evidence Project Final Report is designed to capture the information on the results and outputs of Defra-funded research in a format that is easily publishable through the Defra websiteAn Evidence Project Final Report must be completed for all projects.

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Project identification

1. Defra Project code MF1203

2. Project title

Improved understanding and management of recreational sea angling

3. Contractororganisation(s)

CefasLowestoft LaboratoryPakefield RoadLowestoftSuffolk NR33 0HT

54. Total Defra project costs £ 211,056(agreed fixed price)

5. Project: start date 01 April 2008

EVID4 Evidence Project Final Report (Rev. 06/11) of 17

mailto:[email protected]

end date 31 March 2011


6. It is Defra’s intention to publish this form. Please confirm your agreement to do so...................................................................................YES NO (a) When preparing Evidence Project Final Reports contractors should bear in mind that Defra intends that

they be made public. They should be written in a clear and concise manner and represent a full account of the research project which someone not closely associated with the project can follow.Defra recognises that in a small minority of cases there may be information, such as intellectual property or commercially confidential data, used in or generated by the research project, which should not be disclosed. In these cases, such information should be detailed in a separate annex (not to be published) so that the Evidence Project Final Report can be placed in the public domain. Where it is impossible to complete the Final Report without including references to any sensitive or confidential data, the information should be included and section (b) completed. NB: only in exceptional circumstances will Defra expect contractors to give a "No" answer.In all cases, reasons for withholding information must be fully in line with exemptions under the Environmental Information Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

(b) If you have answered NO, please explain why the Final report should not be released into public domain

Executive Summary7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the intelligent

non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together with any other significant events and options for new work.

This project was established to develop a better understanding of recreational fisheries, principally in England and Wales, in areas of knowledge that would help Defra develop and implement its recreational sea angling strategy. In countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand, recreational fisheries have for many years been considered as a fishery component alongside commercial fisheries catching the same species, and subject to the same requirements to estimate fishing efforts and catches so that the stocks can be scientifically assessed and monitored with full knowledge of all the fishery removals. The In Europe, marine fisheries science and management has focused on commercial fisheries despite knowledge that species such as bass, cod, whiting, sharks, skates, pollack, mullet, and many flatfish species are targeted by very large numbers of individual recreational fishers from shore or boats. More

An initial task of the present study was to compile a set of Case Studies to summarise current knowledge of the biology, status and fisheries of key recreational species (bass, tope, mullet, cod, flounder, and salmon). With the exception of Atlantic salmon, these case studies clearly highlighted the poor understanding of recreational fisheries and the use of recreational fishery data, in Europe compared with similar species in the USA in particular. A further task was to design and carry out some pilot studies for estimating recreational catches and the economic value of recreational fisheries in England and Wales. A software-based system for anglers to record data was developed, in collaboration with a national angling body. Unfortunately the project encountered some difficulties, largely beyond the control of Cefas, that impeded or prevented work on these original objectives. This led to a change in direction part way through the contract to build the knowledge necessary to design a nation-wide survey meeting UK requirements under the EU Data Collection Framework to estimate recreational catches of several species, including cod and bass. This aligned with emerging developments within ICES where an expert group had been set up to help European countries design and implement such surveys, and which brought in statistical and practical expertise from the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Cefas took an immediate and very active involvement in this group, co-chairing the first meeting. Using the design principles described in the ICES reports, Cefas reviewed all available information, much of it very limited in scope, needed to help design statistically-sound surveys in the UK (Bailey and Armstrong, 2009). The eventual design of the follow-up project “Sea Angling 2012” built on the information collected in the present project. An important lesson learned part-way through this project was the importance of effective partnership between scientists and recreational fishery stakeholders in improving the understanding of recreational fisheries, and this became a core principle of Sea Angling 2012.

The project highlighted the poor state of knowledge of fishing effort and catches of marine recreational fisheries in the UK, due principally to the overwhelming focus of marine fisheries science and monitoring


on quantifying commercial fisheries pressures and impacts. Recreational fisheries have been the subject of patchy and often limited studies, often targeted mainly at collection of economic data or local studies on angling activities. The methods used in many studies on recreational effort or catch rates have often adopted ad-hoc approaches due to the difficulties (or the lack of appreciation of the need for) statistically sound approaches as developed in the USA and elsewhere. This is reflected in the wide range of estimates obtained, some of which may have substantial bias. A principal outcome of the present project is a survey framework applicable England-wide, and based on sound design principles, necessary for a robust investigation of the magnitude of recreational sea angling catches of bass, cod and other species in relation to commercial fishery removals. This is the core knowledge needed to inform the development of policies around the sustainable development of all forms of fishing.

Possible future work includes the development of stock assessment and advisory processes that can make effective use of the emerging survey data to address key questions concerning: i) relative impacts of recreational and commercial fishery metiers on stocks in terms of fishing mortality and selectivity, and ii) objectives and shared management of commercial and recreational fisheries at local and national scales. Further work is also needed to improve the cost effectiveness of survey methods, and to better understand the survival rates of fish caught and released by anglers.

Project Report to Defra8. As a guide this report should be no longer than 20 sides of A4. This report is to provide Defra with details of

the outputs of the research project for internal purposes; to meet the terms of the contract; and to allow Defra to publish details of the outputs to meet Environmental Information Regulation or Freedom of Information obligations. This short report to Defra does not preclude contractors from also seeking to publish a full, formal scientific report/paper in an appropriate scientific or other journal/publication. Indeed, Defra actively encourages such publications as part of the contract terms. The report to Defra should include: the objectives as set out in the contract; the extent to which the objectives set out in the contract have been met; details of methods used and the results obtained, including statistical analysis (if appropriate); a discussion of the results and their reliability; the main implications of the findings; possible future work; and any action resulting from the research (e.g. IP, Knowledge Exchange).

I IntroductionThis project was established to develop a better understanding of recreational fisheries, principally in England and Wales, in areas of knowledge that would help Defra develop and implement its recreational sea angling strategy. In countries such as the USA, Australia and New Zealand, recreational fisheries have for many years been considered as a fishery component alongside commercial fisheries catching the same species, and are subject to the same requirements to estimate fishing efforts and catches so that the stocks can be scientifically assessed and monitored with full knowledge of all the fishery removals. The main difference between commercial and recreational fisheries in terms of data collection is that commercial fisheries are usually subject to exhaustive data collection though logbook schemes (though this does not guarantee unbiased estimates) whilst recreational fisheries (with some exceptions) normally do not have exhaustive reporting requirements and the catches have to be estimated using a sampling scheme. In the USA, such surveys have been conducted annually since the early 1980s and have revealed that for many species the recreational catch is a significant or in some cases the dominant source of fishery removals. These data are widely included in stock assessments in the USA.

In Europe, marine fisheries science and management has focused on commercial fisheries despite knowledge that species such as bass, cod, whiting, sharks, skates, pollack, mullet, and many flatfish


species are targeted by very large numbers of individual recreational fishers from shore and boats. More recently, the shift in focus towards recovering depleted stocks to levels giving Maximum Sustainable Yield, and adopting a broader, more ecosystem-based perspective on human pressures and impacts in the marine environment, has led to an increased focus on recreational fisheries and their impacts. Since 2002, the European Commission has established a legal requirement for Member States to estimate recreational catches of some species including bass, cod, salmon, tuna and eels. This has provided fisheries scientists in Europe with new and often difficult challenges in relation to data collection on recreational fisheries. The UK faces the same challenges, and the present project was set up to develop a stronger knowledge base to facilitate the development of longer term programmes of research and monitoring for recreational sea angling.

As described below, the project encountered some difficulties, largely beyond the control of Cefas, that impeded or prevented work on some of the original objectives. This led to a change in direction part way through the contract to more directly address UK requirements under the EU Data Collection Framework to estimate recreational catches of several species, including cod and bass. The changes in objectives are described below.

II. Objectives as set out in the original contract

The original aims of this project were as follows:

1) 1.1 to describe the effects of the recreational sea angling (RSA) and commercial fishing sectors as anthropogenic sources of mortality on resource species in terms of population demography and biology (e.g. growth rate, maturity, fecundity, distribution, migration, weight length relationship);1.2 to analyse and evaluate the efficacy and relevance of existing management measures in relation to Defra’s RSA strategy through different case studies, both in the UK and elsewhere;1.3 to provide basic life history and fishery data and parameters for modelling frameworks used for assessment and evaluation of potential management measures to benefit RSA.

2) 2.1 to investigate, develop and apply socio-economic methodologies to local bass fisheries with differing characteristics to estimate costs and benefits using comparable economic measures for both commercial and recreational fishery sector and to evaluate the effects of alternative management options for bass fisheries.2.2. to implement a pilot study to assess the feasibility of adapting the methodology used by Cefas for estimating bass catch and effort in the commercial sector, for the purposes of estimating catch and fishing effort (participation and activity) for bass in the RSA sector.

3) 3.1 to develop data sources and methodology to assess stock and fishery status for key RSA species, building on work carried out for Defra’s bass management measures consultation in 2005/6 and investigating potential data sources and methods that could be applied to situations where data are more limited.3.2 to develop and apply models to quantify the impacts of fishing mortality due to targeted RSA and commercial catches on fishery yields and stock structure, taking account of salient life-history traits, under different assumptions of fisheries intensity, varying potential regulations (e.g. size limits, bag limits, restricted areas) and considering different population parameters (e.g. growth rate, recruitment) for a range of species with contrasting fishery and biological characteristics (e.g. bass, cod, grey mullet & tope).

Objective (1) was to be addressed mainly using desk-based case studies on bass, cod, grey mullet, tope, flounder and salmon, species with different characteristics and levels of knowledge.Objective (2) was to be addressed by recruiting a fisheries economist, and be developing computer software for anglers to enter data on their fishing trips, catches and trip expenditure.Objective (3) required development of data sources and methodology to assess the status of important RSA stocks and fisheries and to quantitatively evaluate the potential effects of changes in management on resource, commercial yield and recreational sea angling activity.

III. Agreed changes to objectives in 2009/10

Objective (1) was achieved, and a document containing the case studies was prepared (Walmsley et al. 2010). Objective 2.1 could not be progressed because Cefas was not able to recruit a fisheries economist to carry out the work. Objective 2.2 was partly achieved through development and limited pilot trial of software for self-reporting of data by sea anglers (the “electronic logbook”). Unfortunately, despite initial support by a national angling body in developing the tool, support from the sea angling community was largely withdrawn due to concerns over possible implementation of controls on sea angling implied by the


EU Control Regulation, and only a few anglers agreed to collect data using the electronic logbook. Stakeholder attitudes towards collaboration with government scientists were also blighted by the government decision not to increase the MLS of bass following an extensive consultation exercise. This resulted in a stalling of the project and cessation of work.

During 2009, Defra agreed to replace the original objectives 2 and 3 with revised ones with increased focus on establishing a recreational fisheries survey design to estimate recreational catches as required by the EU Data Collection Framework and the EU Control Regulation. The need to quantify recreational fishery removals was a theme running through all the original MF1203 objectives, and in fact without reliable information on recreational removals it is near impossible to consider the relative impacts of recreational and commercial fishing to inform management. There are no existing surveys to estimate recreational fishery removals of species such as bass and cod in English waters. A pilot study had recently been conducted in Wales but could not easily be extrapolated to English waters. The initial objective (1) and revised objectives (2) – (4) were now defined as:

Objective 1: (Original objective): 1.1. to describe the effects of the recreational sea angling (RSA) and commercial fishing sectors as anthropogenic sources of mortality on resource species in terms of population demography and biology (e.g. growth rate, maturity, fecundity, distribution, migration, weight length relationship); 1.2. to analyse and evaluate the efficacy and relevance of existing management measures in relation to Defra’s RSA strategy through different case studies, both in the UK and elsewhere; 1.3. to provide basic life history and fishery data and parameters for modelling frameworks used for assessment and evaluation of potential management measures to benefit RSA.

Objective 2: Collate and evaluate all available information on populations, sampling frames and magnitude / distribution of recreational fishing activities relevant for designing a recreational fishery survey in the UK.

Objective 3: Evaluate the applicability and likely costs of different survey approaches described in the recent ICES Workshop on Sampling Methods for Recreational Fisheries (WKSMRF, ICES, 2009).

Objective 4: Develop a sampling scheme for inclusion in the UK National Programme for 2011&2012, and trial a limited-scale application.

III. Summary of achievement of objectives

Objective (1) of the revised objectives was achieved with the production of a report on the case studies on bass, cod, grey mullet, tope, flounder and salmon (Walmsley et al. 2010). Objective (2) was achieved through a review of information documented by Bailey and Armstrong (2009). Objectives (3) and (4) were achieved through developmental work that led to the design and implementation of Sea Angling 2012, the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken in England to estimate recreational sea angling effort, catches and economic value, funded in a follow-up Defra project with additional funding from the Marine Management Organisation.

IV. Methods used and results obtained

IV.1. Objective (1): Case studies on important recreational fish species in England and Wales

Desk-based case studies were carried out for bass, cod, grey mullet, tope, salmon and flounders as having different characteristics and levels of knowledge. The case study on flounder was requested by the RSA sector. The case studies are provided in a separate report (Walmsley et al 2010). A brief overview is given below.

European sea bassThe case study on European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax summarises biological characteristics, exploitation and management in comparison with Atlantic striped bass on the eastern USA seaboard, and compares the experiences in each fishery. Both species are of high value for recreational and commercial fisheries. European sea bass are relatively slow growing and do not mature until 4 – 7 years. Adults prefer warmer waters for spawning, and warm conditions, as prevailed in the 1990s, also promote survival and growth of juveniles in estuaries and harbours. The more favourable environmental conditions since the 1990s resulted and a geographic expansion of the stock around the UK and a longer inshore residence


time during the year. European bass populations around the UK showed an increase in abundance during the 1990s in response to these favourable conditions. A range of technical measures (minimum landing size, minimum mesh size and restrictions on fishing in nursery areas) will have acted to improve fishery selectivity but there are no other measures aimed at actively managing the overall catch of commercial or recreational fisheries. Note that the stock assessments reported in the case study have been superseded by the more recent assessments of the combined bass stock in ICES areas IV and VII carried out by ICES since 2012, where more detailed information on the biology and trends in the stock can be found (http://www.ices.dk/community/groups/Pages/WGCSE.aspx ). The Atlantic striped bass in USA waters collapsed in the 1980s due to overfishing. The subsequent rapid and substantial recovery of striped bass was due mainly to the very strong control measures introduced, as well as to its biological characteristics of fast growth and early maturation. Extensive data on recreational catches of striped bass have been collected since the 1980s and are included in the assessment of the stock. Success in the striped bass fishery is attributed to explicit recognition by management of both commercial and recreational interests and shared responsibility for the burden of management (catch limitation) by both sectors.

TopeLike many other shark species, tope Galeorhinus galeus are slow growing and late maturing, and have a low fecundity, characteristics which make them vulnerable to exploitation. There are no directed commercial fisheries for tope in the UK, but they are caught as bycatch in some fisheries and they are an important species for RSA, where most anglers practice catch and release. In 2008, UK legislation was introduced to prevent the development of targeted commercial fisheries, while still allowing a small commercial bycatch to be landed and allowing continuation of catch and release by recreational anglers. Local legislation prohibits the landing of tope in some areas. In some other countries (e.g. Australia), tope fisheries are managed through packages of technical measures (e.g. maximum landing size and seasonal/spatial closures).

Grey mulletThree species of grey mullet are commonly found in UK waters, namely the thick-lipped grey mullet Chelon labrosus, the thin-lipped grey mullet Liza ramada and the golden grey mullet Liza auratus. In the UK, commercial catches of mullet are generally a bycatch in inshore drift and gill nets, or in pair trawls targeting bass or black sea bream. However, some targeting of grey mullet does take place using drift nets, set nets or beach seines in estuaries, harbours and on beaches. Recent trends in commercial landings appear to vary around the coast, increasing in the south of England but declining in the east and northwest. In some areas this may be related to increased abundance of more lucrative species such as bass. Grey mullet is an important species for recreational anglers in the UK and is predominantly caught from the shore. The National Mullet Club (NMC) estimates that recreational anglers return 90% of the mullet that they catch. There is no stock assessment carried out for the mullet species in Europe, and little information is available on the species’ biology on which to make assumptions about the vulnerability of the stock to fishing, other than studies showing slow growth rate. In contrast, much more is known about the biology and fisheries for striped mullet Mugil cephalus on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida, USA. In Florida, recreational fishing accounts for approximately 14% of the total landings. Whilst grey mullet in the UK are regarded as an important sport fish by recreational anglers and prized for their fighting ability, in the US they are regarded as for food or bait only, and tend to be caught using cast nets rather than a rod and line. For the Florida striped grey mullet there are sufficient data available to assess the status of the stock. Similar data are not available to assess the status of grey mullet stocks in the UK. In the UK, the NMC in 2006 reported information indicating declining angling catches of mullet.

FlounderThe flounder Platichthys flesus is a widely distributed flatfish species in Europe. They are found mainly in estuarine or brackish waters and nearby beaches, and the adults migrate offshore to spawn in spring. They are relatively fast growing and females mature at around 3 years of age. The flounder is generally a bycatch species for the UK (England and Wales, E&W) commercial fleet, primarily being caught by beam trawlers or otter trawlers targeting other flatfish species. It is a low value species fetching less than £1/kg at markets. Most flounders caught in European waters are from the North Sea and Baltic, and the UK has only a small contribution to total European catches. The UK catch is evenly split between the North Sea and the Channel. Flounders are amongst the most popular targets for recreational sea angling in the UK, although at the time of this Case Study, no estimates of catch were available. The stock status of flounder in the North Sea, English Channel and Irish Sea is currently unknown. At the ICES level, flounder in Areas IV and VII is a species within WGNEW (Working Group on the Assessment of non-MoU species) which collates basic fishery information such as landings, effort and survey data that are necessary to assess the status of the stock (http://www.ices.dk/community/groups/Pages/WGNEW.aspx ).

The European Union sets an annual combined quota for dab and flounder in ICES Sub-Division IIa (Norwegian Sea) and Area IV (North Sea) combined. Flounder is an important commercial species in the


http://www.ices.dk/community/groups/Pages/WGNEW.aspx

http://www.ices.dk/community/groups/Pages/WGCSE.aspx

Baltic Sea and is locally important as a recreational species particularly in Sweden and Finland. A comparable US flatfish species is the winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus which is a common flatfish species found along the northwest Atlantic coast of the United States, and shares many of the life history characteristics displayed by the European flounder. As with European flounder, juveniles recruit into estuaries and shallow bays where they stay until reaching adulthood, after which they demonstrate seasonal inshore/offshore migrations. In contrast to European flounder, the US winter flounder has more complete data on commercial and recreational landings and as a result, assessments are available and biological reference points have been set. Stocks in the Gulf of Maine and the Southern New England/Mid-Atlantic are subject to management measures to re-build the spawning stock to threshold and target levels. As with striped bass fisheries, management measures are in place for recreational fisheries as well as commercial fisheries.

CodCod Gadus morhua is an economically important finfish species for demersal fisheries in the UK and its conservation status has been an important driver for management of the fisheries. It is also highly prized by shore and boat recreational anglers all around the UK. It is a relatively fast growing and early maturing species in UK waters. For the purposes of assessment and management, separate stocks are identified for the North Sea, eastern Channel and Skaggerak; the Celtic Sea and western Channel; the Irish Sea; and the west of Scotland and northwest Ireland. The stocks have historically been seriously depleted by fishing and are subject to EU long-term management plans to recover the spawning stocks and achieve target fishing mortality rates identified in the plans. In general, cod in European waters are well-studied and there are extensive data sets on commercial fisheries and from research surveys to allow analytical stock assessments to be conducted annually by ICES. In comparison, knowledge of the quantities and size compositions of recreational catch has been extremely limited at the time of this case study, and recreational catches cannot be included in the stock assessments. Cod stocks in the north western Atlantic have also historically undergone severe declines due primarily to overfishing, with variable rates of recovery. In contrast to most areas in Europe at the time of this case study, data on recreational catches of cod in Canada are available and show that recreational catches can contribute a significant proportion of the total catch. In 2008 for example, it was estimated that recreational landings in the Southern Labrador/eastern Newfoundland, the Northern Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence fisheries were 19.7 %, 1.1 % and 0.6 % of total catches, respectively. In addition to regulation of the commercial sector, the recreational fishery in Canada has been regulated through bag limits and seasonal closures. Recreational fishing for cod was prohibited in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and northeast of Newfoundland and Labrador when stocks were particularly low.

Atlantic salmonAtlantic salmon Salmo salar are found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. It is an anadromous species spawning and spending the early part of its life in freshwater streams and lakes, and migrating to the sea to grow and feed for one or more winters before returning to their natal streams to spawn. Great uncertainty surrounds the distribution and behaviour of salmon in the ocean although they are thought to migrate northwards from rivers in UK into the Norwegian Sea, with some fish travelling as far as the west coast of Greenland. Salmon from many countries, including the UK, are caught in the distant-water fisheries that have operated around Greenland and the Faroes. Near-shore commercial fishing for salmon in England and Wales is undertaken using a variety of nets (gill nets, sweep or seine nets, “fixed engines” and hand-held nets) in coastal or estuarine environments. The majority of the E&W catch is taken on the northeast coast, and catches in the eastern and south-eastern regions are minimal. Catches in the northeast have decreased sharply since 2003 as the result of a partial buy-out of licences. There are 78 rivers around England and Wales that support salmon, although there is only one (the River Thames) between the River Ouse on the east coast and the River Itchen on the south coast. Sixty-four of the rivers have been designated “principal salmon rivers‟ and have specific Salmon Action Plans.

ICES undertakes an annual assessment to provide advice to the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) on the status of stocks in the north-east and north-west Atlantic with catch options for the west Greenland and Faroese fisheries (e.g. ICES, 2008. A key part of the assessment is estimation of the pre-fishery abundance (PFA) of component stocks. The PFA of salmon from English and Welsh rivers (at the time of the case study) is estimated to have declined by about 70% from over 350,000 in the 1970s to around 150,000 in the past 30 years. The decrease has been greater in the multi-sea-winter component of the stocks, which is thought to have declined by over 80%, whilst the grilse component has declined by over 45%. However, as a result of substantial reductions in exploitation both in homewater and distant water fisheries, there has been a less severe decline in the spawning escapement, from about 130,000 to about 80,000. Within England and Wales, the Environment Agency assesses annually the status of the 64 principal salmon river stocks against their reference conservation levels (CL – the level of stock that will achieve long term average maximum sustainable yield) and management targets (MTs) in line with the recommendations of ICES and NASCO. CLs have been set for each river, defined in terms of


the numbers of eggs that need to be deposited. The management objective is to ensure that the CL is exceeded in 4 years out of 5, and the MT is the stock level that is aimed at to achieve this objective.

Almost all fishing rights for salmon in freshwater are privately held and owners usually charge anglers for permission to fish. In addition, every salmon angler must hold a license from the Environment Agency. As with commercial net fisheries, national measures to safeguard spring salmon were introduced for rod fisheries in 1999 and have recently been renewed for another 10 years. These banned the killing of salmon caught by anglers prior to 16 June and restricted the methods that they could use at this time to artificial flies or lures. Fishery owners and angling associations may impose additional management measures, such as weekly and seasonal bag limits. There is also a continued emphasis on encouraging anglers to return fish. In 2005, a national campaign was undertaken aimed at increasing voluntary release rates and providing guidance on best practice, and efforts to promote catch and release have continued subsequently. A salmon stock conservation review also identified rivers where voluntary release rates should be increased to protect and enhance stocks. The overall level of catch and release since 2005 has been in the range 39-49%, with higher rates occurring in a number of the rivers identified by the review. Tracking studies suggest that, if handled appropriately, the majority (~85%) of released salmon will go on to spawn successfully. Annual recreational catches of salmon by license holders in England and Wales are monitored by the Environment Agency. Salmon management in England and Wales differs from that of the other case study species reviewed in MF1203 in that management measures and data collection are in place for both the recreational and commercial sectors. Current national legislation does not permit one sector to be favoured over the other in terms of the fishing limits imposed. As a result, both the commercial and recreational fishing sectors receive some benefit from the management measures, hopefully in the form of sustainable stocks, while at the same time carrying a share of the management burden.

IV.2. Objective (2): Collate and evaluate all available information on populations, sampling frames and magnitude / distribution of recreational fishing activities relevant for designing a recreational fishery survey in the UK

The achievements for this objective are given in the attached document “A review of surveys of marine recreational fishing activity around the United Kingdom” by Andrew Bailey and Mike Armstrong (March 2009). This report summarises previous studies on recreational sea angling aimed at estimating numbers of sea anglers, their fishing effort, the catches of some species (mainly bass) and the economic value of sea angling. The purpose was to collate information useful for designing surveys to estimate recreational catches as required under EU law – the EU Data Collection Framework (DCF) and the EU Control Regulation (CR). The legal framework for collection of recreational fisheries data by EU Member States is given by the EU Data Collection Framework (Council Regulation (EC) No 199/2008 and Council Decision 2008/949/EC). The Council Decision specifies that:

• For the recreational fisheries targeting the species listed in Appendix IV (1 to 5), Member States shall evaluate the quarterly weight of the catches.• Where relevant, pilot surveys as referred to in Chapter II B (1) shall be carried out to estimate the importance of the recreational fisheries mentioned in point 3(3)(a).• Data related to annual estimates of the catches in volumes must lead to a precision of level 1 (level making it possible to estimate a parameter either with a precision of plus or minus 40 % for a 95 % confidence level or a coefficient of variation (CV) of 20 % used as an approximation).

Appendix IV of Council Decision 2008/949/EC specifies the species for which recreational fishery data are to be collected in each area as:• Baltic (ICES Sub Divisions 22-32): Salmon, cod and eels• North Sea (ICES Div. IV & VIId) and Eastern Arctic (ICES Div. I & II): cod and eels• North Atlantic (ICES Div. V-XIV): Salmon, seabass and eels• Mediterranean and Black Sea: bluefin tuna and eels

A subsequent revision of the DCF (2010/93/EU) added sharks to the species in each region

The DCF specifies that data should be collected for “all vessel classes (if any) combined”. The DCF does not specifically mention shore-based (i.e. non-vessel) recreational fishing although this appears to be an unintentional omission. The other relevant EU regulation is the Control Regulation, in which Article 55 requires MS to provide recreational catch estimates for stocks subject to recovery plans, but only for “vessels flying the national flag” which is taken to mean recreational charter boats or other boats on a national register such as the Marine and Coastguard Agency (in the UK). It does mention that fishing from the shore is not included, but omits any mention of private boats. An extract is given below from http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp/control/index_en.htm:


CHAPTER V:Control of recreational fisheries: Article 55; Recreational fisheries1.Member States shall ensure that recreational fisheries on their territory and in Community waters are conducted in a manner compatible with the objectives and rules of the common fisheries policy.2. The marketing of catches from recreational fisheries shall be prohibited.3. Without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No 199/2008, Member States shall monitor, on the basis of a sampling plan, the catches of stocks subject to recovery plans by recreational fisheries practised from vessels flying their flag and from third country vessels in waters under their sovereignty or jurisdiction. Fishing from shore shall not be included.4. The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF) shall evaluate the biological impact of recreational fisheries as referred to in paragraph 3. Where a recreational fishery is found to have a significant impact, the Council may decide, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 37 of the Treaty, to submit recreational fisheries as referred to in paragraph 3 to specific management measures such as fishing authorisations and catch declarations.

The MF1203 report by Bailey and Armstrong, compiling information to support survey design, provided the following conclusions:

1. Recreational sea angling is a widespread activity around the UK coastline (1 – 2 million anglers, with regional variations (as shown for example in Table 3 of the report).

2. The largest participation is shore angling, although average catch rates are smaller than reported for boat fishing.

3. No studies are available that provide information on non-angling recreational fishery catches.4. Effort and catch rates are skewed, with avid anglers accounting for a disproportionate fraction.

All intercept surveys require adjustment for the over-representation of the more avid anglers who fish more often (if data are to be raised to population numbers of anglers as opposed to total numbers of trips).

5. Recall bias is a major source of error, and any sampling scheme must include elements to minimise the bias. Any dependence on memory recall should be limited to the immediate past.

6. As there are no complete lists of UK recreational fishermen, large-scale population surveys (e.g. telephone surveys) remain the only feasible approach to estimating the total population of resident sea anglers who go shore fishing or use private boats. However the “omnibus” type surveys (where a payment is made to add questions to a more general population survey) is probably an inefficient method of collecting data on recreational fishing due to the limited number of questions possible, the possibility of recall bias, and the inability to prescribe stratification schemes appropriate for angling. However it could potentially be used to recruit anglers to a more appropriately stratified “telephone diary” type approach (ICES, 2009) to minimise recall bias, if sufficient funding is available.

7. Intercept surveys for shore and private-boat anglers are a possible alternative to nationwide population surveys for quantifying overall angling effort and catch, and can provide the most accurate data on catch composition and discarding with minimal recall bias. However, such a survey would require a substantial sampling effort to quantify catches by species at the required precision defined by the EU DCF (CV of 20% on annual estimates), and with minimal bias, given the relatively long and varied coastline and the spatio-temporal variability in catch rates and catch composition. The very variable results in the reviewed studies arise partly from small sample sizes and localised sampling. Further work is needed in the present project (Defra MF1203) to predict sampling levels needed to achieve this precision, and optimal allocation of sampling effort.

8. The fleet of vessels available for angling charters can be established with sufficient completeness to allow a sampling scheme based on a suitably stratified list frame.

9. The available data are not sufficient to design a fully optimised sampling scheme for the UK coast. It is recommended that the initial year of coast-wide sampling is designed primarily to provide the information on spatio-temporal variability needed to develop more optimal sample design and allocation, and cost-benefit in terms of achievable precision. Lists of angling club membership could be used for defining a separate stratum of anglers who can be subject to a restricted telephone survey.

10. It is likely that several waves of nation-wide stratified random digit dialling telephone surveys (or other equivalent approaches) would be needed to estimate the overall population of recreational fishermen in the UK.

The implications of these findings, and actions derived from them, are discussed later in Section V.

IV.3 Objective 3: Evaluate the applicability and likely costs of different survey approaches described in the recent ICES Workshop on Sampling Methods for Recreational Fisheries (WKSMRF, ICES, 2009).


This workshop was established by the ICES Planning Group on Commercial Catches, Discards and Biological Sampling (PGCCDBS) to start a process of helping European countries to design and implement recreational fisheries surveys. The workshop was co-chaired by Mike Armstrong(Cefas) and byDave van Voorhees, a leading recreational fishery survey expert involved in the USA Marine Recreational Fisheries Statistics Surveys (MRFSS) which started in the early 1980s and its recent, improved successor the Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). Three Cefas staff attended the meeting as part of MF1203. The WKSMRF was an extremely important ICES initiative that has since evolved into a Planning Group on Recreational Fishery Surveys (PGRFS) and then to a full ICES Working Group on Recreational Fisheries (WGRFS) all of which have been attended by Cefas (the group is currently chaired by a Cefas scientist). A principal message from WKSMRF was the need for statistically-sound sampling designs that allow correct estimation of precision, and minimisation of the many sources of bias that can affect such surveys, such as bias associated with angler recall of catches made in the months prior to an interview. Cost-effectiveness of surveys can only be correctly evaluated if the effectiveness can be measured in terms of precision. In a randomised survey, precision and cost are directly related to the number of primary sampling units sampled (e.g. shore sites visited at random, or respondents to a postal, telephone or face-to-face survey of the population). Without knowledge of the precision that can be achieved for a given survey effort, the costs of a survey to achieve a desired precision cannot be evaluated. It followed therefore, that a large-scale pilot study was needed in the UK to understand the variability in the data that would be collected, and hence determine the likely precision of estimates that can be achieved for a given survey effort. Evaluation of cost-effectiveness would therefore follow from the results of the pilot survey application (Objective 4).

IV.4 Objective 4: Develop a sampling scheme for inclusion in the UK (DCF) National Programme for 2011&2012, and trial a limited-scale application.

In autumn 2010 Defra, MMO and Cefas began discussions on how to re-launch parts of MF1203 to ensure the UK can meet EU requirements. Part of this re-launch considered how to address the problems previously encountered in MF1203. Cefas had recently recruited in-house socio-economists and it was believed they would be able to carry out this side of the work. Another problem was the previous lack of support from the angling sector. To address this it was agreed to increase the profile and scale of the socio-economic side of the work and that Defra would discuss the project with the national governing body for anglers in England- the Angling Trust- with a view to seeking their support.

The MMO and Cefas developed proposals for a collaborative programme of work that would estimate the number of people who go sea angling during the year; how often they fish from the shore or from boats in different parts of England; the numbers and sizes of fish caught or released to the sea; and the social and economic importance of sea angling in England. ). Defra had specifically requested that the project include a re-estimation of the economic value of sea angling in England, for comparison with the results of the last available study (Drew Associates, 2004). This pilot study would provide information on catches, effort and economic value addressing EU needs as well as informing Defra, IFCA and angling stakeholders. It would also provide the necessary information on variability in angling activity and catches necessary to evaluate cost-effectiveness. Effective stakeholder engagement, through a project steering group, would be essential for success.

After considerable discussion of options during 2010 and early 2011, the following forms of surveys were agreed:

1. A survey of the population of GB principally to estimate the number of people who go sea angling at least once during the year, how many trips they undertake from the shore, private boat or charter boat, where fishing mainly took place, the demographic profile of sea anglers, and other information useful for the project. Although a bespoke survey with increased coverage of coastal regions was desirable, it was decided for this pilot study to add questions to an existing monthly Office of National Opinions Survey (targeting 2000 households per month) to take advantage of a known, statistically robust survey involving face-to-face interviews. This survey would be managed by MMO.

2. A survey of the angling charter boat fleet in England to estimate catches and releases, and sizes of fish caught, using diaries to be completed by the skippers. This survey would be managed by MMO, as it fulfils Control regulation requirements.

3. An on-site survey of shore angling sites and private boat landing sites all around England, to estimate the average catch per unit effort (retained and released) of each species and the sizes of


fish caught. The mean CPUE would be combined with the estimated effort from the ONS survey to estimate total catches. It was proposed to involve the nine mainland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities to carry out roving-creel and roving access-point surveys using a statistically-sound probability-based sampling design. The involvement of IFCAs would help them in their own work with local anglers. This survey would be managed by Cefas with Defra funding.

4. A survey of the sea angling population to estimate the annual expenditure on sea angling and hence to estimate the economic value of sea angling. This survey, based around on-line surveys and the participation data from the ONS survey, would also be managed by Cefas with Defra funding (the work was done by a consultant).

5. Quarterly on-line surveys to collect additional information on catches and releases by area (Cefas).

In the time available for MF1203, it was not possible to trial a limited application to meet Objective 4. It was agreed between Cefas, MMO and Defra that a full-scale pilot survey covering the whole of England was the most sensible approach. The final deliverable of MF1203 was therefore the proposal for the new collaborative pilot project, to be called “Sea Angling 2012 – a survey of recreational sea angling activity and economic value in England”, which was successfully funded (Defra project MF1221 and additional MMO funding). During the final three months of MF1203 (quarter 1, 2011), several other important pieces of groundwork for Sea Angling 2012 were carried out, including setting up a communications strategy for the new project, discussion of the proposed project with the Angling Trust, developing text for a project web site, communication with the Countryside Commission for Wales regarding ongoing survey work in Wales, and communication with IFCAs regarding the nature of their involvement in the new project.

IV.5. Other relevant work completed within the present project

Several pieces of work were carried out in the first half of the present project, addressing the original aims of the project, and which proved useful for subsequent aspects of survey design or consideration of scientific assessment of bass stocks. These are summarised below:

Voluntary logbook scheme for anglers

An electronic logbook interface was designed to enable anglers to record catch and effort data and return them electronically by email. The anglers would upload the software presenting them with a simple data entry screen for a PC, asking for data including date, location, type of fishing (shore, boat etc.), fishing method (bait, lure etc.), target species, numbers or weight caught and numbers released, and amount spent on the trip. The software would create a flat file for transmission to Cefas. The project originally specified that this would be for bass only, but this was broadened to include most species commonly taken by RSA, and to include trip expenditure data, in response to requests from RSA representatives (National Federation of Sea Anglers). This logbook was launched in January 2009, ahead of schedule, but uptake was very low due to heightened anxiety in the RSA community concerning possible controls on RSA. This situation worsened with the withdrawal of cooperation in the log-book scheme from an influential angling body in April 2009, which did not re-engage with the MF1203 project.The angler logbook scheme was therefore continued through 2009 with a very low uptake. Two anglers returned logbooks for the whole year, with a further 4 submitting returns for part of the year. Although cooperation was limited, the scheme provided some preliminary baseline data and indicated that despite some negative press, some anglers were still prepared to commit their time voluntarily in support of improved research and management. The possibility of implementing the logbook interface as a web-page on the Cefas internet site was to be investigated in order to improve efficiency and reduce administrative effort. This was not done, but the experience in development of the software proved useful in designing the questionnaires and data base for the follow-up project Sea Angling 2012.

Bass pre recruit data

Cefas has been provided with reports of bass pre-recruit surveys in the Fal and Helford Estuaries (Cornwall) for a number of years, and during 2009 compiled and analysed these using resources from MF1203 and a separate project C2931. These surveys are carried out voluntarily and have developed through time as the survey area was expanded from the Helford only to include both the Fal and Helford. A wide variety of different sites were surveyed in order to find those considered most reliable and there have also been variations in sampling methodology to suit particular locations. This non-standardised approach has made analysis difficult and a high proportion of zero catches in conjunction with a few very high catches also posed problems for statistical analysis. As a result the evaluation carried out was


relevant as a methodological development that may be applied more widely to other pre-recruit data and in an applied nature in interpreting potential trends in bass pre-recruitment in the Fal and Helford estuaries. A general linear modelling approach was applied to standardise the data for station, seasonal and age effects thereby summarising the year class signal in the data. A delta exponential approach was explored in which the data were analysed in terms of presence or absence, which takes the zero catches into consideration, followed by fitting a second linear model to the positive catch rate data. The product of the models represents the likelihood of a positive catch and the subsequent magnitude of that catch. The resulting index (Figure 1) was able to qualitatively identify many strong and weak year classes for bass identified in other areas and surveys, but results were highly uncertain, reflecting the variable nature of pre-recruit data and should not be used quantitatively. The Cornwall Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority have taken over this survey programme.

Figure 1. Delta exponential linear model for bass pre-recruits in the Fal and Helford estuaries (triangles). Predicted year class strengths from models of presence absence data (crosses), positive catch data (diamonds) and the combined delta exponential model (triangles), together with raw positive catch rate data (circles, note omissions for reasons of scale, detailed right).

Trends in localised angling activity

Numbers of anglers fishing on Pakefield and Kessingland beaches, close to the Cefas Fisheries Laboratory in Lowestoft (Suffolk, England) were recorded several times daily (largely limited to daylight hours and weekdays) by staff working at the lab, over a period of just over a year in 2008 and 2009. These represented “observations of opportunity” and hence were restricted largely to work hours, Monday to Friday, though the staff involved collected some additional data. This resulted in a data set of just under 1000 records which was explored for trends in angling activity in relation to temporal (e.g. time of day, day of week, month) and environmental (tidal state, weather conditions) variables within the constraints of the observation periods. These sand and shingle beaches are considered a fairly typical east-coast beaches and although there will be activity patterns specific to these beaches (e.g. timing of club competitions), the trends in activity were thought to be informative for considering how on-site surveys could potentially be affected by patterns of angling activity. The data provide a resource that may be modelled using general linear or additive models for specific, more detailed examination for significant trends, although further work is needed to complete the tidal state records which cover only about half of the data. The data were however collected in a balanced way with respect to the different factors meaning that strong patterns should be discernable in the combined data prior to any statistical modelling. Prior to analysis, the data were filtered to exclude some additional nearby sites that had very few observations, and any observations that had obvious recording errors. The patterns evident in the raw data are shown in Figure 2, and a summary is given below:

1. Mean numbers of anglers were the same on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Elevated numbers on Tuesdays are probably related to a regular competition. Not enough data were collected at weekends, but the numbers observed on Saturdays were on average higher than on weekdays (excl. Tuesdays).

2. A very strong seasonal pattern was observed with highest numbers from autumn to spring, when runs of cod and whiting are targeted.

3. There was a clear decline in activity with increasing wind force.4. There was a surprisingly weak effect of tidal state, although mean activity was marginally higher at

high tide and lowest at low tide.5. Activity was highest from mid morning to around 5pm, and tailed off on either side. More detailed

statistical modelling approaches would reveal how this may be correlated with season.


Overall, the data indicate that any survey to estimate angling catches on beaches in this region would need to cover all days of the week, tidal states, and the times of day that were observed. It is likely that weekend activity will be higher, on average, than on weekdays (though not adequately studied in this exercise), which could mean there are benefits to stratifying any survey into weekdays and weekends and sampling weekends at a higher rate. Angling may continue well into the hours of darkness not covered in this limited set of observations, and more information is needed on this. Extreme weather conditions are likely to result in very low activity, and such days could be excluded from a randomised catch survey provided they are recorded as having been selected but not observed. Although activity levels were low in summer, the species targeted are different (e.g. bass and flatfish in summer; cod, whiting and flatfish at other times) so allocation of survey effort by season would need to take species compositions into account. The patterns observed at Pakefield and Kessingland will probably not apply to many other regions around the UK, but are nonetheless informative.

Figure. 2. Trends in mean number of anglers in instantaneous counts on Pakefield and Kessingland beaches in the vicinity of the Cefas fisheries laboratory, Suffolk, England during 2008 – 2009, based on raw non-standardised data. Error bars are +/- 2 standard errors (likely to be underestimates due to cluster sampling effects of successive observations of the same anglers within a day).

Other related work

Cefas undertook a short term contract for Natural England during the first quarter of 2009 which entailed a desk study on the biology, behaviour and angling methods used for species commonly caught by RSA and a small scale survey of anglers to ascertain information on their catch and effort and attitudes towards conservation and potential control measures for marine conservation zones (MCZs). The final report was submitted to Natural England prior to the end of FY 2008/9, but has not been made publicly available. Data on angling activity collected during this programme of work were compared against other published sources (e.g. Drew, 2004) and were found to be generally in good agreement with these.

V. Discussion of the results and their reliability

An important lesson learned part-way through this project was the need for effective partnership between scientists and recreational fishery stakeholders in improving the understanding of recreational fisheries.


The project was unable to move forward in testing data collection schemes due to withdrawal of support from stakeholders, due to concerns related to potential imposition of management controls. Deteriorating relationships with stakeholders also followed from a government decision not to increase the minimum landing size of bass, a measure strongly supported by bass anglers concerned over the catching and discarding on immature fish. Despite these problems, Cefas remained committed to advancing the science on recreational fisheries and species targeted by them, to be better prepared for inevitable EU requirements to bring recreational fisheries in line with commercial fisheries in terms of data on participation, effort, catches, releases, selectivity patterns and economic value. The Case Studies summarised current knowledge of the biology and status of key recreational species (bass, tope, mullet, cod, flounder, and salmon). With the exception of Atlantic salmon, these case studies clearly highlighted the poor understanding of recreational fisheries and the use of recreational fishery data in Europe compared with similar species in the USA in particular. These findings are robust.The redirection of project work towards developing a survey approach to estimate recreational catches fell in line with emerging developments within ICES where an expert group had been set up to help European countries design and implement such surveys, and which brought in statistical and practical expertise from the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Cefas took an immediate and very active involvement in this group, co-chairing the first meeting. Using the design principles described in the ICES reports, Cefas reviewed all available information, much of it very limited in scope, needed to help design statistically-sound surveys in the UK (Bailey and Armstrong, 2009). The eventual design of the follow-up project “Sea Angling 2012” built on the information collected in the present project.

VI. Main implications of the findings

The project highlighted the poor state of knowledge of fishing effort and catches of marine recreational fisheries in the UK, due principally to the overwhelming focus of marine fisheries science and monitoring on quantifying commercial fisheries pressures and impacts. Recreational fisheries have been the subject of patchy and often limited studies, often targeted mainly at collection of economic data or local studies on angling activities. The methods used in many studies on recreational effort or catch rates have often adopted ad-hoc approaches due to the difficulties (or the lack of appreciation of the need for) statistically sound approaches as developed in the USA and elsewhere. This is reflected in the wide range of estimates obtained, some of which may have substantial bias. A principal outcome of the present project is a survey framework applicable England-wide, and based on sound design principles, necessary for a robust investigation of the magnitude of recreational sea angling catches of bass, cod and other species in relation to commercial fishery removals. This is core knowledge needed to inform the development of policies around the sustainable development of all forms of fishing.

VII. Possible future work, and actions arising from the research

This project led directly to the follow-up project “Sea Angling 2012” which carried out a range of surveys to estimate recreational sea angling effort, catches and economic value in England.

Possible future work includes the development of stock assessment and advisory processes that can make effective use of the emerging survey data to address key questions concerning: i) relative impacts of recreational and commercial fishery metiers on stocks in terms of fishing mortality and selectivity, and ii) objectives and shared management of commercial and recreational fisheries at local and national scales. Further work is also needed to improve the cost effectiveness of survey methods, and to better understand the survival rates of fish caught and released by anglers.


References to published material9. This section should be used to record links (hypertext links where possible) or references to other

published material generated by, or relating to this project.

Bailey, A. and Armstrong, M.J. 2010. A review of surveys of marine recreational fishing activity around the United Kingdom. Report for Defra Contract MF1203 “Improved understanding and management of recreational sea angling” 19pp. (also submitted to European Commission in support of UK Data Collection Framework National Programme)

Drew Associates (2004). Research Into the Economic Contribution of Sea Angling, Drew Associates

ICES, 2009. Report of the ICES Workshop on Sampling Methods for Recreational Fisheries. ICES CM 2009\ACOM:41. 225pp.

Smith, M.T., Pawson, M.G. & Bailey, A., 2009. A baseline study of Recreational Sea Anglers: the species and areas targeted, techniques used and acceptability of proposed Marine Conservation Zones. Final report to Natural England. Commercial in confidence. 150pp.

Walmsley, S., Pawson, M., Smith, M. and Potter, E. 2010. Case studies on the general life history, commercial and recreational fisheries, and management of fisheries, for bass, cod, grey mullet, tope, flounder and salmon in UK waters and comparisons with similar stocks worldwide. Report for Defra Contract MF1203 “Improved understanding and management of recreational sea angling”. 62pp


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