Integrating recreational fishing into harvest strategies: linking data with objectives

Recreational fishing (RF) is a popular pastime resulting in substantial fish mortality in many regions. Yet inclusion of RF in fishery harvest strategies is limited, because the sector's objectives are poorly understood, as are the data required to track their performance. To address this, we reviewed RF data sources available from a region of globally high participation (New South Wales [NSW], Australia) and evaluated their utility for RF-specific performance indicators within harvest strategies. We then linked these data sources to RF objectives they may be used to monitor. A total of 21 RF data sources were identified in NSW over the past two decades, spanning all major aquatic environments and 146 fished species. Numerous data sources were available to monitor ecological objectives, providing time-series and potential reference points for key indicators such as catch-per-unit-effort. Few data sources were available for social, economic, and institutional objectives, consistent with a global paucity of these data. We found that most social objectives of RF lie outside the scope of traditional harvest strategies, although some are linked to underlying ecological performance. Harvest strategy performance for RF will depend on the relative importance of social objectives and whether these can be achieved by controlling harvest