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. 2014 Jan 29;9(1):e87271.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087271. eCollection 2014.

Combining telephone surveys and fishing catches self-report: the French sea bass recreational fishery assessment

Delphine Rocklin  1 , Harold Levrel  2 , Mickaël Drogou  3 , Johanna Herfaut  2 , Gérard Veron  3
Affiliations

Combining telephone surveys and fishing catches self-report: the French sea bass recreational fishery assessment

Delphine Rocklin et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Fisheries statistics are known to be underestimated, since they are mainly based on information about commercial fisheries. However, various types of fishing activities exist and evaluating them is necessary for implementing effective management plans. This paper assesses the characteristics and catches of the French European sea bass recreational fishery along the Atlantic coasts, through the combination of large-scale telephone surveys and fishing diaries study. Our results demonstrated that half of the total catches (mainly small fish) were released at sea and that the mean length of a kept sea bass was 46.6 cm. We highlighted different patterns of fishing methods and type of gear used. Catches from boats were greater than from the shore, both in abundance and biomass, considering mean values per fishing trip as well as CPUE. Spearfishers caught the highest biomass of sea bass per fishing trip, but the fishing rod with lure was the most effective type of gear in terms of CPUE. Longlines had the highest CPUE value in abundance but not in biomass: they caught numerous but small sea bass. Handlines were less effective, catching few sea bass in both abundance and biomass. We estimated that the annual total recreational sea bass catches was 3,173 tonnes of which 2,345 tonnes were kept. Since the annual commercial catches landings were evaluated at 5,160 tonnes, recreational landings represent 30% of the total fishing catches on the Atlantic coasts of France. Using fishers' self-reports was a valuable way to obtain new information on data-poor fisheries. Our results underline the importance of evaluating recreational fishing as a part of the total amount of fisheries catches. More studies are critically needed to assess overall fish resources caught in order to develop effective fishery management tools.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Number of scientific papers citing the term “recreational fisheries” from 1990 until now.
Data derived from the research platform “Web of Knowledge” (www.webofknowledge.org).
Figure 2
Figure 2. The sea bass-specific survey: followed sampling design.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Length-weight (L-W) relationship of the European sea bass, based on the panel of volunteers and scientific catches.
Dark grey circles: scientists' catches; Light grey squares: panel's catches; Solid line: L-W relationship based on scientists' dataset; Spotted line: L-W relationship based on panel's dataset.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Percentage of fishing gear used for catching sea bass, from the shore and from boats.
Figure 5
Figure 5. European sea bass kept and released by recreational fishers.
Solid circle: kept sea bass; Filled triangle point down: released sea bass; Legal size: minimum legal catch length; Recommended size: length generally recommended by French recreational fishery federations.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Mean weight and abundance of sea bass caught by recreational fishers from boats and from the shore.
Dark grey: caught sea bass; Medium grey: kept sea bass; Light grey: released sea bass; Black bars: confidence interval (α = 0.95).
Figure 7
Figure 7. Mean weight and abundance of sea bass caught per gear type and fishing trip.
Medium grey: kept sea bass; Light grey: released sea bass; Black bars: confidence interval (α = 0.95).
Figure 8
Figure 8. Mean CPUE of caught sea bass, from boats and from the shore.
Dark grey: from boats; Shaded lines: from the shore; Black bars: confidence interval (α = 0.95).
Figure 9
Figure 9. Mean CPUE of caught sea bass, per gear type.
Black bars: confidence interval (α = 0.95).
Figure 10
Figure 10. Mean CPUE of caught sea bass, per gear type and fishing mode.
Dark grey: from boats; Shaded lines: from the shore; Black bars: confidence interval (α = 0.95).
Figure 11
Figure 11. Annual recreational catch estimates of European sea bass in France (Atlantic coasts).
Medium grey: kept amount; Light grey: released amount.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Publication types

Grants and funding

This study was carried out thanks to Data Collection Framework fundings of the European Union, the French “Direction des Pêches Maritimes et de l'Aquaculture” and IFREMER. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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