Fishing

About: Fishing is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 26543 publications have been published within this topic receiving 455552 citations. The topic is also known as: angling.

Communities, knowledge and fisheries of the future

Abstract: The 'human dimension' in fisheries management has historically been incorporated via a specific economic understanding of fisheries wedded to a single-species approach. Meeting the challenge of fisheries, however, will require a broadening of fisheries science towards an ecosystems-based approach. There is also the need for a parallel shift in social science understandings of fishing towards context and interrelationships amongst and between fishermen and fishing communities. While the move towards ecosystems is well underway, a corresponding movement in fisheries social science is less well established. The latter will require a commitment to new sources of data, methods and forms and scales of analysis. Promising initiatives that align with ecosystem-based approaches include the documentation and incorporation of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK), cooperative research that bridges communicative and epistemological gaps between fishermen and scientists and community-level data collections and analyses emerging from legislative mandates and community-based advocacy. These examples suggest a reorientation of fisheries social science in step with ecosystem approaches.

Modelling the effect of marine reserves on the recreational shore-fishery of the South-Western Cape, South Africa

Abstract: A discrete, space-time, age-structured model of a fishery was developed to test the effect of marine reserves on yield of fish to recreational angling. The model was applied to three sympatric surf-zone species commonly targeted by shore-anglers. Movement rates of white steenbras Lithognathus lithognathus and galjoen Dichistius capensis, both of which are nomadic, were estimated from tag-recovery data. Because post-recruit blacktail Diplodus Sargus capensis are resident, a coefficient of passive larval diffusion was estimated from drogue-separation rates. Marine reserves cannot increase the yield-per-recruit of white steenbras, although the spawner-biomass-per-recruit responds positively. A "recruitment - spawner-biomass" function was applied to galjoen and blacktail. The yield of galjoen increased sharply as the size of area conserved increased. Small reserves, closely spaced, appeared to be optimal for blacktail. A range of reserve size and spacing combinations satisfied management criteria for the thre...

Ghostnet impacts on globally threatened turtles, a spatial risk analysis for northern Australia

Abstract: As human population growth continues, so too does our waste, often with unintended consequences for wildlife. The estimated 640,000 tons of fishing gear lost, abandoned, or discarded annually exerts a large but uncertain impact on marine species. These “ghostnets” drift in the ocean and can fish unattended for decades (ghost fishing), killing huge numbers of commercially valuable or threatened species. We developed an integrated analysis combining physical models of oceanic drift with ecological data on marine turtle species distribution and vulnerability to make quantitative predictions of threat. Using data from beach cleanups and fisheries in northern Australia, we assessed this biodiversity threat in an area where high densities of ghostnets encounter globally threatened turtles. Entanglement risk is well-predicted by our model, as verified by independent strandings data. We identified a number of previously unknown high-risk areas. We are also able to recommend efficient locations for surveillance and interception of abandoned fishing gear. Our work points the way forward for understanding the global threat from marine debris and making predictions that can guide regulation, enforcement, and conservation action.

Evidence of discrete yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) populations demands rethink of management for this globally important resource.

Abstract: Tropical tuna fisheries are central to food security and economic development of many regions of the world. Contemporary population assessment and management generally assume these fisheries exploit a single mixed spawning population, within ocean basins. To date population genetics has lacked the required power to conclusively test this assumption. Here we demonstrate heterogeneous population structure among yellowfin tuna sampled at three locations across the Pacific Ocean (western, central, and eastern) via analysis of double digest restriction-site associated DNA using Next Generation Sequencing technology. The differences among locations are such that individuals sampled from one of the three regions examined can be assigned with close to 100% accuracy demonstrating the power of this approach for providing practical markers for fishery independent verification of catch provenance in a way not achieved by previous techniques. Given these results, an extended pan-tropical survey of yellowfin tuna using this approach will not only help combat the largest threat to sustainable fisheries (i.e. illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing) but will also provide a basis to transform current monitoring, assessment, and management approaches for this globally significant species.