A pioneering study has revealed that the goals of recreational fishers align strongly with the sustainable harvest of fish stocks, paving the way to effectively integrate recreational fishing into broader harvest strategies. 

Recreational fishing is a significant part of global fisheries, with over 4 million Australians participating.  

However, aligning and understanding recreational fishers’ diverse motivations and desires with effective management can be challenging. For example, recreational fishers may seek various experiences, such as the thrill of catching larger fish, mastering certain techniques, catching fresh seafood, or enjoying time outdoors. This makes it essential to understand and accommodate these different aspirations within harvest strategies.  

Harvest strategies are blueprints for fisheries management, setting out pre-determined responses to changes in a fish stock’s health.

Harvest strategies are intended to provide fishers with greater confidence that fishing activities will be managed to deliver agreed objectives, particularly in relation to the biological or ecological performance of the fishery.   

New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW DPIRD) is transitioning to harvest strategies that aim to incorporate the interests of all relevant stakeholders while balancing the needs of various sectors.  

Dr. Ash Fowler, a Principal Research Scientist at NSW DPIRD, emphasises the importance of understanding the objectives of recreational fishers to make this process successful.  

"New South Wales has a substantial recreational fishing sector with strong interests in numerous stocks that are also utilised by the commercial sector and Aboriginal cultural fishers," Ash states. 

“Including recreational fishing in harvest strategies is often considered challenging, because the large and diverse stakeholder base makes it difficult to identify a unified set of  objectives.” 

To help try and solve this issue in NSW, Ash and his team through an FRDC project (2019-021), conducted extensive primary research on NSW recreational fishers' motives and objectives for key commercial and recreational NSW species Mulloway (Argyrosomus japonicus), Yellowtail Kingfish (Seriola lalandi), and Snapper (Chrysophrys auratus).  

Deep diving into motives 

The study held workshops with experienced recreational fishers in NSW to identify recreational objectives for the three species.  

A statewide survey of randomly selected RF licence holders (telephone survey) and a self-selecting group of NSW residents (online) was then conducted to identify priority objectives when fishing each species.  

The research revealed that despite diverse backgrounds, preferred gear types, and varied geographical locations, recreational fishers in NSW shared similar ecological priorities.  The top priority across the board, when comparing this to various social and economic priorities, was the sustainability of fish stocks, particularly maintaining biomass.  

“The prioritisation on resource sustainability is likely in line with other sectors – healthy, sustainably managed fish stocks are in everyone’s interest, including recreational fishers,” Ash notes. 

The study also found limited support for increasing recreational fishing participation as an objective, which may reflect fishers’ desire to minimise competition. 

Current landscape 

A review of harvest strategies both nationally and internationally highlighted that while 49% of Australian harvest strategies for multi-sector fisheries include recreational fishing, the elements related to recreational fishing (like fishing objectives and performance indicators) are less frequently included compared to those for the commercial sector. This suggests a risk to achieving successful fishery outcomes for recreational fishers. 

Internationally, recreational fishing often resembles the small-scale or artisanal sectors in terms of inclusion in harvest strategies, indicating a broader issue of integration.  

“This confirms that recreational fishing is not well integrated at multiple levels within harvest strategies,” said Ash. 

Data-driven decision making  

The project also wanted to investigate the potential of using the online harvest strategy development tool FishPath to help characterise and integrate recreational fishing information into harvest strategy development for multi-sector fisheries. FishPath was developed by US-based non-profit The Nature Conservancy, CSIRO and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

The FishPath tool follows a stakeholder-driven philosophy for harvest strategy development, guiding users through a comprehensive series of questions regarding the different biological, social, economic and governance characteristics of their fishery. The answers help develop a customised suite of options for the core components of a harvest strategy - data collection, assessment and management.  

Expert reviewers for the project identified a variety of strengths and weaknesses of the FishPath harvest strategy development tool for the recreational fishing sector. Based on these findings, the tool was updated by adding more RF-specific questions and options, a function allowing results between recreational and other sectors to be compared, and an RF question filter to better serve recreational stakeholders and support their engagement.  

Next steps 

Based on the findings and enhancements to existing tools, the project has developed comprehensive guidelines and recommendations for incorporating recreational fishing information into harvest strategies. These guidelines are structured around a four-phase development process, which highlights critical elements such as prerequisite legislation, regulations, and supporting policies. 

"The first step is to engage and ensure adequate representation of recreational fishers prior to commencing harvest strategy development for a fishery," Ash explained. 

"Consulting with the recreational fishing community about their objectives and which ones are within scope and which ones are out of scope of a harvest strategy is crucial.” 

“The research shows many recreational fishing objectives lie within the scope of a harvest strategy, and addressing these explicitly will increase the likelihood of recreational fishers achieving the fishery performance they want.” 

Integrating recreational fishing into harvest strategies represents a significant advancement towards more inclusive and sustainable fisheries management. As Ash noted, dispelling the myth that incorporating recreational fishing into harvest strategies is too complex has shown that it is indeed feasible to include this diverse community in effective fisheries management.  

Related FRDC Project 

2019-021: Integrating recreational fishing information into harvest strategies for multi-sector fisheries