Catch of the day: how do recreational anglers value the diversity of marine fish?

Supervisors: Dr Tom J Webb and Dr Julia L Blanchard
Collaborator: Dr Keiran Hyder - Cefas

Opportunities for sea angling are among the most important coastal ecosystem services. Angling makes a substantial contribution to local economies, and the 1-2 million UK sea anglers also derive considerable benefits in terms of personal health and wellbeing. Yet the ecological context of angling, including the characteristics of the targeted fish communities that are especially valued by the angling community, are not well understood. This project aims to address this knowledge gap by answering the following questions: What are the characteristics of catches from inshore recreational fishing trips? What features of these catches are valued by the angling community? What other aspects of the sea fishing experience contribute to this valuable ES? How do the needs of sea anglers align with those of other users of coastal ecosystems?
The project will take advantage of a new national survey of sea anglers, Sea Angling 2012, coordinated by Cefas, to obtain a broad overview of the values of this large community. This will be complemented by a programme of fieldwork to quantify the diversity of fish caught by sea anglers, combined with interviews of participants to obtain a detailed picture of the ecological, environmental and social factors that anglers value from a day’s sea fishing. A modelling exercise will enable future scenarios of recreational angling under different environmental and management regimes to be presented to sea anglers, so that the preferences of this largely overlooked stakeholder group can be fully integrated into coastal management plans. Contact Tom Webb (t.j.webb@sheffield.ac.uk) for more details.

To apply, please complete an online application form which can be found at www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply/applying
The closing date is 15 January 2013