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Recreational spearfishing is a fishing method that occurs globally, yet receives considerably less attention in the scientific literature relative to other recreational fishing methods, such as angling. Lack of scientific information on spearfishing may negatively affect the development and management of marine recreational fisheries. We conducted a systematic review of 102 peer-reviewed papers published between 1967 and 2022 pertaining to marine recreational spearfishing. Based on this literature review, we provide an overview of key insights across social, economic, and ecological dimensions of marine recreational spearfishing. While spearfishers represent less than 5% of marine recreational fishers, the participants are younger and may differ from recreational anglers in their motivations, with suggestions of increased well-being generated from a close connection with the sea during underwater fishing. Recreational spearfishers mostly target species of moderate to high levels of vulnerability that are mid to high trophic level carnivores. Though spearfishers can deliberately target larger individuals of exploited populations, this is not a generalizable pattern. Despite a growing body of research on the ecological impacts of marine recreational spearfishing, there is limited knowledge of these effects and their mechanisms across biological levels of organization (e.g., individual, population, community and ecosystem) compared with those of other fishing methods. Recreational spearfishers can contribute to advances in marine ecological knowledge, and inclusive participatory management could represent a key step towards transformative sustainable development of marine recreational spearfishing. Throughout the review, we identify gaps in the research and areas where future research is needed to better inform the socio-economic importance, ecosystem impacts and future management of marine recreational spearfishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This is the first Spanish nationwide study addressing marine recreational fishing. • The official Spanish recreational fisher population is provided for the first time. • Estimates of CPUE, effort and total catch are given for each modality. • Recreational fishers' social profile and satisfaction levels are analyzed. • Different dissemination strategies have had ranging success rates. Abstract This study represents the first nationwide assessment of marine recreational fishing in Spain. A new cost-effective approach was used to collect fisher's information: an online application adapted to different platforms was kept operative from February 2016 to February 2017. Commercial and non-commercial dissemination campaigns represented substantial differences in their success rate and cost-effectiveness. In this study, fisher's population size, profile and fishing activity were analysed for shore fishing, boat fishing and spearfishing independently in each of Spain's Autonomous Communities (AC). The official recreational fishing population according to the license registries reported by the AC is of 871,533 fishers, but this study reveals that around 5% of fishers are unlicensed. The most popular modality was shore fishing (83.6% to 67% of recreational fishers) followed by boat-fishing (11% and 31%) and spearfishing (1.2% to 4.9%). The mean age varied significantly between modalities: 36 years for spearfishing, 41 years for shore fishing and 45 years for boat fishing. The education level of spear-fishers and boat-fishers were both higher than that of shore-fishers, which had the highest levels of unemployment. Fisher satisfaction levels of the activity and the catch were high for every modality and AC. Interestingly, a 94% of our respondents declared that their catch was for household consumption. Catch rates differed significantly between fishing modalities: shore fishing had the lowest catch rates (1.17 kg d−1s.e. 0.028), followed by spearfishing (2.02 kg d−1 s.e. 0.044) and boat fishing (2.91 kg d−1 s.e. 0.78). Estimates of annual fishing days (shore fishing 60.6 d y−1 s.e. 0.67; boat fishing 57.1 d y−1 s.e. 0.092; spearfishing 51.5 d y−1 s.e. 0.71) did not differ from those of previously published studies using onsite surveys in the same regions, despite the fact that our sample could be potentially over-representing avid fishers. The implications of misestimating annual effort and its importance on MRF impact are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine recreational fishing (MRF) is a high-participation activity with large economic value and social benefits globally, and it impacts on some fish stocks. Although reporting MRF catches is a European Union legislative requirement, estimates are only available for some countries. Here, data on numbers of fishers, participation rates, days fished, expenditures, and catches of two widely targeted species were synthesized to provide European estimates of MRF and placed in the global context. Uncertainty assessment was not possible due to incomplete knowledge of error distributions; instead, a semi-quantitative bias assessment was made. There were an estimated 8.7 million European recreational sea fishers corresponding to a participation rate of 1.6%. An estimated 77.6 million days were fished, and expenditure was €5.9 billion annually. There were higher participation, numbers of fishers, days fished and expenditure in the Atlantic than the Mediterranean, but the Mediterranean estimates were generally less robust. Comparisons with other regions showed that European MRF participation rates and expenditure were in the mid-range, with higher participation in Oceania and the United States, higher expenditure in the United States, and lower participation and expenditure in South America and Africa. For both northern European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, Moronidae) and western Baltic cod (Gadus morhua, Gadidae) stocks, MRF represented 27% of the total removals. This study highlights the importance of MRF and the need for bespoke, regular and statistically sound data collection to underpin European fisheries management. Solutions are proposed for future MRF data collection in Europe and other regions to support sustainable fisheries management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fish farms have been shown to aggregate large numbers of wild fish in their surroundings. Although little is known about how this affects the local fishery, two hypotheses have been put forward; a trapping and a protecting effect on wild fish. This study provides the first monitoring of commercial and recreational fishing activity at a fish farm. We assessed the effect on the small-scale fishery analysing the differences between fishing in farm proximity and away from the farm (in terms of catch rate, income and catch composition). Moreover, we estimated the biomass removal from fishing activities by farm employees inside the farm. The study was conducted from January 2011 to June 2012 at a Gilthead seabream farm in the NW Mediterranean. The findings revealed a relevant amount of commercial and recreational fishing effort in farm proximity. Yet, the results showed no benefit or difference of fishing in close proximity to the farm compared with areas away from the farm. Thus, we conclude that farm-aggregated fish are protected from the commercial fleet by the farm leasehold area, but remain vulnerable to hidden fishing practices inside the farm, where farm employees harvest more than 4 t of wild fish annually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify spatio-temporal distribution in Namibian Cape hake (M. paradoxus and M. capensis), incidental hake catch by the horse mackerel fleet and targeted catch by the hake fleet were analysed for the period 1999–2004. The targeted catch, 45 955 fishing days, came from hake fishery logbooks and the incidental catch, 24 689 trawls, from observers'' sample data collected aboard vessels of the horse mackerel fleet. A strong negative relationship between monthly catch rates (cpue) and bycatch was observed, confirming that the seasonal change in catchability is caused by differences in hake vertical dispersion. The October trends were an exception: both cpue and bycatch were negative. A drop in catchability at different depths of the fishing grounds indicates that M. capensis migrates to shallower water (<200m) at the peak of spawning. Although there was no significant relationship between annual catch rates and bycatch, probably because of the short length of the time-series, annual bycatch should not be discarded as an indicator of hake recruitment. The results highlight the potential informative component of bycatch in identifying population patterns that cannot be extracted from the targeted catch. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study represents the first nationwide assessment of marine recreational fishing catch compositions in Spain. Catch data from 7848 recreational fishers were collected using an online survey that was conducted from February 2016 to February 2017. The major modalities of the recreational fishing sector: shore fishing, boat fishing, and spearfishing were analysed independently in each Spanish coastal Autonomous Community (AC). The results revealed the high variability in the species compositions among modalities, as well as between the ACs, which showed spatial trends grouping them into larger regional units. For all three modalities, the Mediterranean and Atlantic AC were grouped separately. The Canary Islands were classified alone, except for the boat fishing modality, for which they were grouped with the Balearic Islands forming an archipelago group. Our results show the considerable heterogeneity in recreational fishing, and evidence for the need to study each modality as a separate compartment of a wider activity, and the risks of spatial extrapolations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]