With over a quarter of Tasmania's population fishing, scientists have cast a line to capture a snapshot of recreational fishing practices across the state.
Researchers from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) have released the 2022-23 Survey of Recreational Fishing in Tasmania - the fifth survey since 2000 - which provides insight into how many Tasmanians recreationally fish, how often they fish, and what they catch.
In the 12 months leading up to October 2022, approximately 130,500 Tasmanians aged five and older engaged in recreational fishing, representing 27% of the population.
Despite the largest number of recreational fishers being in the 45 to 59-year-old age group, young people aged five to 14 had the highest participation rate, with one in three fishers from the youngest age group fishing at least once a year.
"The decline in participation reported since the year 2000 has turned around, with participation now close to that reported over 20 years ago. The biggest growth has been in the youngest age group, and it's encouraging to see that more kids are getting outdoors and doing something away from technology," Research Fellow and report co-author Dr Kate Stark said.
While participation rates have increased, the survey revealed that most fishers don't fish often, with about two-thirds of fishers fishing fewer than five days per year.
"As an individual who doesn't fish much, it can be easy to think you're not having an impact. However, with 130,500 people in the state fishing, those individual actions add up," Dr Stark said.
"There were almost 500,000 fisher-days of effort expended in the 12 months from October 2022, and the vast majority of this was line fishing in inshore marine waters."
Despite recreational fishing efforts remaining relatively steady over the last decade, harvest has decreased significantly, primarily because of a reduction in the number of Sand Flathead caught. But with the reduction, Sand Flathead was still the most caught species, making up 50% of the total finfish catch, with an estimated 126 tonnes harvested.
"Similar to previous survey years, the vast majority of Sand Flathead was caught by the recreational sector. Further, since management changes were brought in last year, it is now solely recreational fishers harvesting Sand Flathead," IMAS Fisheries & Aquaculture Centre Head and lead author Professor Sean Tracey said.
"There were concerns that new regulations imposed on the catch of Sand Flathead, which were implemented to help it recover from a 'depleted' state, might impact fishing participation. However, the survey has shown that people are diversifying their catch by fishing a wider variety of fish species and continuing to engage in recreational fishing.
"We are continuing to see fishers catch a broad range of species. This has been in part due to an increase in catches of range-extending species like King George Whiting, Snapper, and Yellowtail Kingfish."
The proportion of species where the recreational catch exceeds the commercial catch in Tasmanian waters has also continued to increase, with around half of the key species assessed falling into this category. The trend is mainly driven by decreases in commercial catches, but it highlights that recreational fishing can have an impact on the sustainability of fish stocks, as we have seen with Sand Flathead.
"Another reason for an overall decline in recreational harvest was an increase in release rates, mainly due to size and catch limits set by the State Government to help manage for sustainable fisheries, but there is also evidence of an increase in voluntary catch and release fishing," Prof Tracey said.
"This means there is an increasingly important role for education to ensure fishers know how to properly handle fish before releasing them so that future generations can keep enjoying fishing. With improved knowledge and stewardship, its future is literally in their hands."
The study was funded by the Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration Agreement and the Inland Fisheries Service (IFS).
