Improved understanding and management of recreational sea angling

This project runs from 2008 until 2011 and has 3 main components:

1. A series of desk studies collating and synthesising existing and historic information on a number of species important for RSA and examining how commercial and recreational fisheries have developed in response to management.
2. Socio-economic studies to evaluate the implications of potential management options for RSA and commercial sectors. These will focus on developing methodology and evaluating the costs and benefits of potential management options for both commercial and recreational angling bass fisheries.
3. Developing new data sources and methodology to evaluate and model recreational fisheries. This will involve identifying and collecting data on species important to RSA. A pilot logbook scheme for anglers to report catch and effort will be established and historic datasets (such as time series of angling matches) will be investigated to provide information relating to historic stock and fishery performance. Other work will investigate assessment and modelling approaches to data poor stocks.

Cooperation from anglers is crucial if the project is to succeed in providing an improved knowledge base to underpin future management of recreational sea angling.

Angler logbook scheme

Cefas is developing a voluntary logbook scheme to enable anglers to provide data on their activity and catches. This will provide basic catch and effort data at a fine scale that will be useful to determine the extent of angling activity and catches around the country at the present time, and as the data build up in future years it will provide a time series which may be useful in determining trends in abundance and fishery success.

Cefas is therefore looking for anglers who are prepared to voluntarily complete logbooks with details of all their sea angling trips. Although the scheme would be voluntary, a draw would be held annually and a prize of fishing tackle awarded to winners from shore and boat categories. All individual information obtained from the scheme would be treated anonymously. It is important that the logbook scheme provides information from a variety of anglers and achieves coverage from all areas of England. We will therefore require both boat and shore anglers form a variety of regions, with different levels of expertise and with different species preferences. Where possible we would like to use computerised logbooks, but if you do not have access to a computer we will consider alternative paper versions. If you are interested in completing a logbook and thereby contributing to improving knowledge of recreational sea angling as the basis for management please provide your email address to: rsadata@cefas.co.uk.

Historic datasets

This work programme will investigate potential sources of data that can be used to provide catch and effort indices for recreational fisheries and for species important for RSA. We would be particularly interested to hear from sea angling clubs that have time series of data that include both catch and effort information such as historical records of competition results including numbers of anglers fishing and total catch by species. If you feel your club might be able and willing to contribute such data please email brief details to: rsadata@cefas.co.uk.