Study of the recreational fisheries in the south Portugal - FCT

A non-uniform probability complemented survey was conducted monthly between August 2006 and July 2007, using roving creel surveys, aerial surveys and fishing logbooks, to study the shore recreational fishing in the south Portugal.

In total, we carried out 192 roving creel surveys, 24 aerial surveys and distributed 256 logbooks to volunteer anglers. During the roving creel surveys, 1321 anglers were interviewed, resulting in usable fishing trip data from 1318 questionnaires, and socioeconomic information from 1201 questionnaires. Response rates were high (~95%) in the roving creel surveys, fishing logbooks had a low return rate (~7%).

The majority of recreational anglers sampled were male, married, professionally active, in their late forties, with a low level of education, and with an average monthly income of 500-1000€ (excluding taxes). 77 % lived in one of the two regions of the sampling area (Algarve or Alentejo). On average, anglers had 23 years of fishing experience. Most anglers fish all year round, with an average of 65 fishing trips/year, and do not have any particular habit or preference regarding day type or period of the day. Overall, anglers spent 13.2€ per fishing trip, and 865€ per year, although only bait, tackle and transportation expenditures were considered in this study. Annual expenditures for the above mentioned items were estimated to total 2.2 million Euros in the study area.

In a typical fishing trip, the majority of anglers fish alone, from cliffs (west coast) or jetties (south coast), with only one rod and practice bottom fishing. Most use only one kind of bait, generally worms (Nereis spp.), mainly targeting seabreams (Diplodus spp.). Catches are mainly for personal consumption, and catch-and-release is still a rare practice.

Overall, 71% of the interviewees agreed with the existence of recreational fishing regulations, although the majority (53%) did not support most of the aspects of the current regulation. Only 7% of the anglers admitted not having a fishing license, and 53% were familiar with the minimum size limits.

Estimated total fishing effort was 705,236 angler-hours, corresponding to 166,430 fishing trips. Average time spent per fishing trip was 4.7 hours. A total of 48 species were recorded, belonging to 22 families. The most important family was Sparidae, represented by 16 fish species and comprehending 78% of the total catches in number and 75% in weight. Recreational fishers harvested approximately 160 tons of fish (788 048 individuals), of which only 147 tons (589 132 individuals) were retained. The most commonly caught species were white seabream Diplodus sargus (44%), common two-banded seabream Diplodus vulgaris (14%) and bogue Boops boops (8%).

Overall, shore based recreational harvests represented 0.5% of the commercial landings, for the same period, area and species. Regarding the most important species, only white seabream, grey triggerfish and spotted seabass, showed relevant catches when compared with the commercial landings, although in all of the cases the recreational catches were always inferior. This study provided the first estimates of fishing effort and catches in the shore recreational fishing in the south Portugal.

The data obtained can be used in the future as baseline information for later studies, and can be a basis for the management and conservation of Portuguese fisheries resources. Nevertheless, it concerns only a specific area and time period (12 months), and does not take into consideration inter-annual variations, or night time catches. Also, it is important to note that this study was carried out during the transitional period of implementation of the current recreational fishing legislation.