Scientific review of recreational fisheries in the UK

A long overdue review of our freshwater and marine recreational fisheries has been compiled and published this month by Dr Ian Winfield, one of the UK’s leading fish biologists based at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Lancaster.

Ian presents an overview of these fisheries by describing their main features using the concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services, and then considers the threats that they face and the management that has been developed in response. While we at WTT tend to dwell on river habitat issues, Ian reminds us of the problems stillwater fisheries face too, with for example, reference to the scientific research underpinning the improvement of the world renowned Loch Leven trout fishery.

The paper is open access, free to download here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12562-016‑0967‑y