Epsilon Open Archive

Recreational fishing is a popular activity with large social and economic values. At the same time, fishing and associated activities can have negative effects on fish and the environment. In order to ensure a sustainable resource use and a continued provision of goods and benefits, several aspects of recreational fisheries needs to be considered. Knowledge on the ecological, social and economic importance of recreational fisheries is a prerequisite for an ecosystem based approach to fisheries, environmental and water management.

This report has been commissioned with the aim of providing a long-term national data collection framework to inform managers of the recreational fisheries in Sweden’s´ five great lakes, the coast and in the sea.

To enable a selection of relevant data collection programs and surveys for the coming ten-year period we assessed management and knowledge needs. Management needs are influenced by both international and national commitments, ranging from the global sustainability goals to detailed technical regulations. Knowledge supporting management is constantly developing and organisations responsible for advice ensures that the latest information is considered. In order to choose between different management needs and knowledge gaps it is necessary to prioritize, which can be based on different criteria. Prioritization criteria can be i) laws, regulations and directives with direct demands on data collection, ii) the impact of recreational fisheries on stocks and species, iii) the importance of a species, stock or area from for example a social or economic perspective. Also, iv) the possibility for data collection from recreational fishers can be weighed in as a criteria, especially for species or stocks with data-limited information. By defining and valuing criteria against each other, the prioritization and decisions of what, where and when data is to be collected becomes transparent. In order to facilitate decisions also on how data should be collected, an overview of different data sources and appropriate collection techniques are provided. To increase the chances of the long-term plan staying relevant, as well as continuously being updated given external changes, an adaptive strategy has been developed.

The adaptive strategy means a process where potential data collection programs are prioritized and selected in different planning groups. The selected programs are then developed and designed in such a way that the management and knowledge needs identified can also actually be met. This means, in practice, an iterative process where prioritized plans can be cost estimated given the design, whereby the cost can be put in relation to management needs and decisions on implementation can be made. During the work with this plan, about 70 different stocks, species and related “targets” of relevance for data collection in the sea, at the coast and in the five great lakes of Sweden have been valued according to the different criteria for prioritization above. Through discussions in national working groups a number of data collection programs have been prioritized and preliminary planned until 2027. The results of this work has been compiled in a supplement, which will be continuously updated according to the adaptive processes described in the report.