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Recreational Fishing

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Outdoor Recreation

Abstract

The definitions of recreation fishing and the numbers involved are discussed in this chapter. The direct impacts on fish stocks, on endangered fish species through trophy fishing, on size selection and fish community structure, including truncation of age and size structure, are reviewed. There is a loss of genetic diversity and evolutionary changes. Discards and catch-and-release impacts and the effects of invasive, non-native species are discussed. There are a series of indirect impacts such as habitat disturbance, walking tracks, off-road vehicles, effects on wildlife, loss of fishing gear, boat strikes, nutrient impact, pollution, plastics and pathogen transmission. The management of recreation fishing impacts such as the use of marine protection areas, best practice guidelines and codes of conduct, and the education of practitioners, including mandatory programmes, are reviewed.

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Huddart, D. (2019). Recreational Fishing. In: Outdoor Recreation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97758-4_15

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