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Impacts of recreational fishing in Australia: historical declines, self-regulation and evidence of an early warning system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2014

MATTHEW A. L. YOUNG ,
SIMON FOALE  and
DAVID R. BELLWOOD
MATTHEW A. L. YOUNG*
Affiliation:
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
SIMON FOALE
Affiliation:
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and School of Arts and Social Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
DAVID R. BELLWOOD
Affiliation:
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
*
*Corresponding author: Matthew A. L. Young Tel: +61 7 4781 4823 e-mail: matt.young@jcu.edu.au
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Summary

Overfishing is a mounting threat to marine ecosystems and food security worldwide. Recreational fisheries are poorly understood and pose governance challenges due to the scarcity of monitoring data. The impact of recreational spearfishing on eastern blue groper (Achoerodus viridis) and grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) in Australia was analysed by assessing a chronology of spearfishing publications for historical, ecological and social data. Reported captures of blue groper declined by 90% from 1952–1967. Grey nurse shark captures also declined. Interestingly, early warnings of declines for both species emerged from the spearfishing community 17 and 19 years, respectively, before protection. While recreational fishers may have serious impacts on vulnerable fish species, they could also play a vital role in conservation and advocacy. This highlights the importance of reciprocal communication between fishers, scientists and governments for managing and detecting declines in vulnerable species.

Keywords

blue groperfisheries managementgrey nurse sharkhistorical marine ecologyrecreational fishingself-regulationshifting baselinesspearfishing
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 41 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 350 - 356
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2014 

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