Acronym NA
Category
Fisheries
Title Coastal fish resources: the foundation for tourist fishing and related commerce Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Kjell Harald Nedreaas Coordinator email kjell.nedreaas@imr.no
Coordinator institution
IMR - Institute of Marine Research (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA - Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries (Norway) ,
NHO Reiseliv - Norwegian Hospitality Association (Norway) ,
RCN - Research Council of Norway (Norway) ,
SSB - Statistics Norway (Norway) ,
Start year 2006 End year 2010 Funding (€) € 700,000 Website NA Summary Recreational fishing as tourism has become an increasingly important part of the Norwegian travel industry and may account for a significant portion of the fishing mortality of local fish stocks. In this study, we evaluated the use of a probability-based sampling survey to estimate yearly catch and effort taken by boat anglers associated with 445 registered tourist fishing businesses that we were able to identify. From a stratified random sample of businesses, fishing tourists were recruited every 6th week (with a random start) and asked to record their catch and effort in catch diaries. This report documents methods and results of a survey conducted in 2009. Estimated species composition and catch-per-unit of effort for commercially important species by region were judged to be credible. Atlantic cod (Gadus morpha) dominated the catches in northern Norway, while saithe and mackerel were the most common species caught in western and southern Norway. We estimated that the total catch of all species taken by tourist fishers in the business sector during 2009 was 3.3×103 metric tons (RSE=17%), and that 1.6 ×103 metric tons (RSE =22%) of cod were caught overall. Most of the cod (1.58 ×103 metric tons, RSE= 22%), was caught north of 62°N. We conclude that self-reporting can provide reliable data on catch per unit effort (CPUE). The estimation of total effort proved more challenging and requires independent data collection that complements the catch diary data. Survey methods that are applicable to cover the informal sector of tourist fishing are discussed. Choice of survey methods are limited because no complete registry of businesses catering to fishing tourists exists. Conducting a cost-effective survey of the entire tourist fishery is also made difficult by Norway's intricate coastline that extends over 25,000 km which does not include the shores of islands, the diverse assortment of fishing activities, and the lack of a comprehensive sampling frame. No license is required for tourists fishing in Norway's coastal waters. The lack of a tracking tool means that foreign fishing tourists cannot be contacted to conduct a random telephone interview survey.
Keywords
Recreational fisheries;
Monitoring;
Fishing mortality;
Environmental impact;
Fish stocks;
Marine Region
41
Norwegian Sea (27.IIa)
14
Skagerrak, Kattegat (27.IIIa)
13
Northern North Sea (27.IVa)
3
Marine Region Map
