Examining changes in participation in recreational fisheries in England and Wales

Abstract Inland fisheries in England and Wales have high economic and social values. Managing participation to maximise fishery performance is key to maintaining this status. The capital value of fishing rights for migratory salmonid fisheries is €165 million. Coarse fisheries contribute €1030 million to the economy. The central tenet to increasing participation in recreational salmonid fisheries is that an increase in stock size will result in more anglers accessing the fishery. This was examined for salmon on the rivers Usk and Lune where exploitation restrictions increased the number of salmon available to anglers. On the River Lune, the number of salmon available post‐intervention increased by 66%. There was no significant increase in catch while the number of anglers decreased by 16.3%. On the River Usk, the closure of the net fishery potentially resulted in an additional ～1200 salmon being available. Following closure, there was no significant change in rod catch or in the number of anglers. Increased participation is dependent less upon stock manipulation for coarse fisheries and more upon facilitating the activity. In recent years, urban fishery development programmes have provided improved access to local fishing opportunity. Also, new anglers have been targeted through campaigns such as Get Hooked on Fishing and the Scout Angler Badge.     

Adapting bioenergetic factorial modelling to understand the implications of heat stress on barramundi (Lates calcarifer) growth,feed utilisation and optimal protein and energy requirements – potential strategies for dealing with climate change?

The implications of temperature on bioenergetics for barramundi (Lates calcarifer) were defined in an improved factorial model that encompassed revised parameters accounting for effects over the temperature range of 16–39 °C and size range of 10–3000 g. A revised growth function describing weight gain by barramundi as a function of fish weight and temperature was derived from farm and laboratory data and included a term for a shift in optimal temperature with fish size: Gain (g fish^?1 day^?1) = (K + xT + yT ² + zT³) * (weight)^ax+b. Maintenance energy and protein demand functions were also derived on a similar form, and all three functions combined to form the basis of a factorial model for energy and protein demand. Using this model, optimal iterative feed specifications were defined for a range of fish sizes at temperatures of 25, 30 and 35 °C. A feed demand model was also developed based on the demand for digestible energy (DE) at each of these temperatures. The model shows that at high temperatures (35 °C), there is an increase in digestible protein (DP) to DE demand, and that with increasing size, there is a decrease in the DP to DE demand.     

Methodical studies on digestion in trout. 1. Reliability of digestion coefficients in relation to methods for faeces collection

Two methods of faeces collection were compared when studying digestion in trout (78–200 g individual weight; 12–15°C): (a) Faeces stripped from the lower intestine; (b) faecal pellets filtered continuously from water using an automated faeces collector. This apparatus consisted of a cylindrical tank with a funnel shaped bottom, from which the effluent water was drained over a rotating cloth filter, separating the faecal pellets immediately from water. The digestion coefficients for energy and protein of a commercial feed and an experimental diet were determined applying both methods of faeces collection. Digestion coefficients for protein of the experimentally composed diet were 1–2·3% higher for the filtered faeces than for the stripped faeces (88·6–87·3%). The protein digestion coefficients for the commercial feed were about 5% higher when faeces were sampled by continued filtration. Results obtained with the stripping method averaged 79·5%. The energy digestion coefficients followed a similar trend. It was concluded that the stripping method gives more reliable digestion coefficients.     

Effects of dietary carbohydrate and fibre on the tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Linn.)

Glucose, sucrose, dextrin, starch and a-cellulose were incorporated into experimental rations at three levels (10%, 25% and 40%) and fed to juvenile O. niloticus for 63 days. Inclusion level was adjusted with polypropylene powder. Growth improved as the level of glucose, sucrose, dextrin and starch was increased from 0% to 40%. Carcass fat similarly increased with the addition of assimilable carbohydrate (maximum level 8.2% liveweight). At the 40% level, net protein retention (NPR) was highest on the dextrin diet and lowest on the glucose diet. At 10%, glucose spared more, and at 40%, spared less protein energy in the diet than dextrin, starch or sucrose at corresponding levels. The value of these carbohydrates for replacing protein energy in rations for tilapia is discussed.As a-cellulose was increased from 0% to 40%, growth, food conversion efficiency (FCE), NPR, carcass fat and condition factor were reduced. Growth and FCE on the 25% and 40% a-cellulose diets was lower than the control. The use of a-cellulose as an inert bulker in experimental diets for fish is discussed.     

Studies on the growth rate of the grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes) fed on two aquatic weeds and a terrestrial grass

The growth rate of grass carp fed with hybrid napier was found to be nearly three times the growth attained with Hydrilla and about five times the growth attained with Ceratophyllum. The gross conversion ratio on fresh weight basis with hybrid napier was on average 26.99 : 1, while with Hydrilla and Ceratophyllum it was 93.98 : 1 and 128.43 : 1 respectively. The average net production of grass carp fed on hybrid napier worked out to 1579.3 kg/ha in 182 days.     

Partial cloning of 17B-HSD1 from the Nile tilapia ovary and its expression pattern during spawning cycle

A 548 bp partial cDNA fragment of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17β-HSD1) was obtained by RT-PCR from the ovary of Nile Tilapia. The expression of 17β-HSD1 was high from 0 to 11 days after spawning, but there was a sharp decline at the day of spawning (day 14) indicating its involvement in ovarian cycle.     

Effects of dietary lipids on body composition and liver function in juvenile red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of dietary lipids on body composition and liver function in juvenile red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus. Diets were formulated to contain 40% crude protein from solvent-extracted menhaden fish meal and 0, 7, 14 or 21% lipid from menhaden fish oil. The basal diet, without supplemental fish oil, contained lipid at 0.4% of dry weight. The diets were fed to groups of 25 juvenile red drum initially averaging 7.3 ± 0.18 g fish^–1 in a recirculating culture system for 8 weeks and weight gain was recorded. After an additional 8 weeks, 16 fish from each treatment were sacrificed and the following measurements were recorded: hepatosomatic index (HSI), intraperitoneal fat (IPF) ratio, and liver -tocopherol, malondialdehyde (MDA) formation, and cytochrome P-4501A activity (measured as 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity). The activity of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases and concentrations of -tocopherol also were measured in plasma.Weight gain was significantly (p<0.05) affected by dietary lipid concentration, with values ranging from 361% of initial weight for fish fed the basal diet to 527% of initial weight for fish fed the diet containing 7% lipid. The HSI and IPF ratio values also were significantly affected by lipid with the lowest values recorded for fish fed the basal diet and the highest values observed in fish fed the diet containing 21% lipid. Increasing dietary lipid significantly increased oxidative stress as reflected in reduced -tocopherol in liver and plasma and increased MDA formation in the liver, although no overt pathological signs were observed. These findings suggest that lipid concentrations between 7 and 14%, when the diet contains 60 IU vitamin E kg^–1, are likely to limit oxidative stress and result in normal physiological responses of red drum.     

Optimising codend configuration in a multispecies demersal trawl fishery

Abstract The relative efficiencies and selectivities of conventional and modified codends were examined in a demersal trawl fishery targeting several species, including eastern king prawns, Penaeus plebejus (Hess), whiting, Sillago spp. and cephalopods. The modifications to codends included: (i) reducing the circumference; (ii) increasing the mesh size in conventional diamond‐mesh designs; and (iii) orientating meshes on the bar so that they were square shaped. The codends were tested against a fine‐meshed control in paired comparisons onboard three commercial trawlers. The conventional codend comprised 41‐mm diamond‐shaped mesh attached to an anterior extension section at a ratio of 150 to 100 meshes and was demonstrated to be non‐selective for the targeted species. Reducing codend circumference to 100 meshes and increasing the size of mesh to 45 mm both improved selection for eastern king prawns, but the lateral mesh openings were estimated to be insufficient to allow juveniles of the other key species to escape. By contrast, codends made from 35‐ and 41‐mm mesh hung on the bar improved the size selection for eastern king prawns and selected stout whiting, Sillago robusta (Stead) (the smallest commercial‐sized fish) across narrow selection ranges and at 50% sizes of retention (L₅₀s) that were closely correlated to the transverse morphology of fish and the maximum mesh opening. With the exception of a reduction in catches of octopus, Octopus spp., by the 41‐square codend, there were no other impacts on commercial catches by the square‐mesh designs. It was concluded that diamond‐mesh codends are inappropriate for use throughout this multispecies fishery and that a modified design comprising at least 35‐mm mesh hung on the bar is required to minimise the fishing mortality of unwanted sizes of the key target species. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of these types of modifications for closely regulating selection in penaeid‐shrimp trawls.