Recreational fishery on salmon and sea trout

Background and Objective

In the past, the impact of recreational fisheries (particular angling) on European marine fish stocks has often been neglected. Recent studies revealed that recreational catches can have a substantial magnitude compared to commercial catches for some European marine and diadromous fish stocks (e.g. for the western Baltic cod stock), and therefore, should be incorporated in future stock assessments. However, up to now only few information exists about the impact of the recreational fishery on many fish species and stocks. In Germany, this seems particularly relevant for Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and sea trout (Salmo trutta trutta L.) in the Baltic Sea. Several studies from other Baltic costal states showed that recreational salmon and sea trout catches are substantial compared to the commercial fishery. At the same time, it should be noted that that the status of many Baltic salmon and sea trout stocks is critical due to various factors (pollution, habitat loss, fishery etc.). Therefore, investigations of the recreational salmon and sea trout catches are also needed in Germany and, if necessary, recreational removals should be included in future stock assessments.

The results will help to increase the accuracy of the recreational salmon and sea trout biomass removal estimates and thereby improve the management of the western Baltic salmon and sea trout stocks. Furthermore, the findings will provide a basis for future management recommendations, ultimately promoting a sustainable recreational fishery on Baltic salmon and sea trout.

Approach

The Thünen Institute for Baltic Sea Fisheries (OF) has started data collection from the German Baltic recreational fishery on salmon and sea trout in 2013 to close this scientific knowledge gap. Angling effort and catch per unit effort (e.g. catch/angling day) will be determined to estimate recreational salmon and sea trout removals. Furthermore, various biological data (e.g. length, weight, age) will be collected and ecological (e.g. stomach content analyses) as well as genetical (stock structure analyses) investigations are planned. Additionally, the economic importance of the recreational fishery along the German Baltic coast will be evaluated using the salmon and sea trout fishery as a case example.