Recreational sport fishing is a very popular activity along the Maltese coastline where a number of sport fishing clubs regularly organise fishing competitions for their members. Effective management of recreational fishing however requires accurate monitoring and research to best address and mitigate the impacts. For this reason good collaboration between anglers and conservation scientists is a basic requirement. To this effect, researchers from the conservation biology research group from the University of Malta (CBRG-UOM), led by Conservation biologist, Adriana Vella (Ph.D.), have been monitoring fishing competitions around the Maltese coast for many years.
During this collaboration, it has been observed that all fishing clubs are embracing the catch and release practice whenever possible. All fish caught during the competitions are kept alive in keep nets and released at the end of the competition. The use of keep nets by anglers during competitions has also increased due to greater enforcement by club committees, with some clubs opting for more venues which allow better keep net use. Fish caught during competitions vary according to location and season.
Sandra Agius Darmanin, is one such dedicated researcher, supported by the CBRG-University of Malta research team and BICREF NGO volunteers, who has been working with the various fishing clubs and the National Federation of Sports Anglers Malta (NFSAM) to understand the impacts and mitigation measures necessary to reduce such impacts. This is being carried out as part of an original PhD research project under the supervision of Dr Vella, and is focusing on coastal fish species biology and recreational fishing activities so as to target effective conservation practices and recommendations.
Discussions with the NFSAM, the body that oversees all local sport fishing clubs, have resulted in a number of measures to reduce the catch of undersized juvenile fish and fish mortality. Effectiveness of such measures is currently being monitored. Preliminary findings from this project have already been presented in a number of conferences abroad, including the Congress by the Mediterranean Science Commission (CIESM) and The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Such research and collaboration for conservation of marine biodiversity is an essential requirement to achieve the various biodiversity conservation and marine strategy framework directive obligations while it also allows stakeholders to learn from the scientific process while working closely with conservation scientists. This is a positive way forward necessary to ensure effective sustainable management of this growing sport.
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