Abstract

Estimates of recreational fishing effort and catch are needed to inform fisheries management, but such estimates can be challenging to obtain. We combined a zig-zag line transect survey of buoys, a fisheries enforcement survey and a drone survey to estimate recreational effort in the open-access trap fishery for signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) in the sixth largest lake in Europe, Lake V & auml;ttern, Sweden. Using supporting variables such as size of nearby ports and bathymetry, our model-assisted estimate of total effort was 6400 (+/- 4300 CI) buoys during the three-weekend season. Using the frequency of buoys to traps as a constant, the total number of crayfish traps was estimated to be 25,500 (+/- 17,000 CI). The sampling design and methods presented are useful for ecologists and resource managers to design future multi-source surveys of recreational trap fishing effort.

Keywords

design-based estimation; inland fisheries; model-based estimation; recreational fisheries; Pacifastacus leniusculus; signal crayfish; survey sampling

Published in

Fisheries Management and Ecology
2024, Volume: 31, number: 2, article number: e12675
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

• Sundblad, Göran

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• de Groote, Annica

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Lundqvist, Peter

  • Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

Lakes and watercourses


Sustainable Development Goals

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development


UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Aquacultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12675

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/127593