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Fishing practices and representations of shark conservation issues among users of a land-based shark angling online forum
Abstract
Recreational fisheries can play a significant role in the population dynamics of threatened fish species, but have received much less research and management attention than commercial fisheries. Land-based anglers are a group of recreational fishers that fish from beaches or piers; however, comparatively little is known about the practices and perceptions of this stakeholder group. In order to gather data for an initial assessment of the fishing practices of land-based anglers and their perspectives on shark conservation issues, we performed a content and discourse analysis of an online discussion forum used by the largest land-based shark fishing club in Florida. Discussion board content analysis can identify evidence that certain perceptions or practices exist within a studied sample, but cannot be used to estimate how common those perceptions and practices are among the wider population. We found evidence that forum users are demographically distinct from other recreational anglers in Florida, and are mostly young males. Some forum users perceive themselves as relatively low-income compared with other fishing stakeholder groups. There was no evidence in forum discussions that patterns of reported landing and release of hammerhead and tiger sharks changed following the introduction of new legal protections for these species in 2012. This study identified a minimum of dozens of cases of illegal shark fishing practices among forum users, and found evidence that some users are aware that these practices are illegal. There was evidence that some users believe that their own practices have no effect on shark populations and should not be regulated. Additionally, this study found the existence of mixed attitudes and levels of trust towards scientific researchers and environmentalists.
... Unfortunately, this is not always the case, especially if anglers disagree with the regulations, regulations are not enforced, or anglers are not aware of the regulations (Page and Radomski, 2011;Cardona and Morales-Nin, 2013). A recent study revealed that non-compliance may be prevalent in a shore-based shark fishery in Florida after highlighting illegal activities posted on an online public forum, such as landing prohibited species of sharks and delaying their release (Shiffman et al., 2017). Shore-based shark fishing (SBSF) is a relatively low-cost mode of shark fishing where the ocean can be accessed by beaches, piers, and bridges, which could attract anglers with minimal experience to participate. ...
... Improper handling practices could thus be common, putting both the shark and angler at risk of harm. Moreover, Shiffman et al. (2017) highlights skepticism among anglers from this fishery toward researchers and the science behind regulations, which may impede communication between managers, researchers, and anglers (Dedual et al., 2013). Further impediments to communication within the Florida SBSF fishery may include fear that management actions will limit fishing opportunities, or animosity toward the impacts of commercial fishing on shark populations due to the potential ripple effects on recreational fishing (Dedual et al., 2013;Guay et al., 2021). ...
... We aimed to reduce sampling bias by distributing the questionnaire to the full FWC SBSF permit list, however our study presents limitations as we only captured a sample of the entire fishery. Non-response bias may have been due to skepticism toward researchers (Shiffman et al., 2017), missed emails or emails sent to junk or spam folders, respondents abandoning the questionnaire partway through, forgetting to complete the questionnaire, or being too busy to respond (Gigliotti and Henderson, 2015). Nonetheless, our response rate (17.4%) remained fairly consistent with other targeted online questionnaires (Sheehan, 2001;Nulty, 2008;Shih and Fan, 2009), and sociodemographic comparison of the entire FWC SBSF permit list suggested that our respondents were relatively representative of the fishery (Guay et al., 2021). ...
Introduction
Shore-based shark fishing in Florida is a relatively low-cost and easy-access fishery which attracts a wide variety of experienced and inexperienced anglers leading to concerns about proper handling methods of captured fish that are released either voluntarily or to comply with regulations. Proper handling methods can help reduce post-release mortality among sharks, many of which are threatened with extinction. Therefore, we considered proper handling methods as a pro-environmental behavior, which has been linked with the use of different information channels to increase conservation knowledge.
Methods
We used data from an online questionnaire to understand where anglers of this fishery obtain information about fishing skills with a particular focus on fish handling techniques and best practices for catch-and-release. Then we included their main information channels in a series of hierarchical regression models with perceived conservation knowledge and support for fishery management to explain pro-environmental behavior regarding shark conservation.
Results
We found that most anglers learned about shore-based shark fishing through interpersonal communications with friends and family, but typically use the internet to learn more about fishing skills. While information channel use was not significantly associated with pro-environmental behavior, it was significantly associated with support for fisheries management, which in turn was associated with pro-environmental behavior among respondents.
Discussion
These findings can inform public educational outreach efforts to spread awareness of proper handling techniques and reduce instances of post-release mortality in sharks.
... Conflicts over resource use in coastal areas are common (Le Tissier et al., 2004;Stepanova, 2015), and although studies often address conflicts involving income and livelihoods, conflicts between different recreational activities can also be contentious (Shiffman et al., 2017;Voyer et al., 2017). Recreation can take on significant social and psychological meaning for participants, becoming a signifier of identity, values, status, and lifestyle (Jacob & Schreyer, 1980). ...
... The growing visibility of recreational fishing through new media (i.e. media relying on computers and the internet for distribution, including social platforms, discussion forums, and websites), combined with shifts in attitudes towards wildlife, has brought increased public attention to some fisheries practices (Shiffman et al., 2017). This has contributed to new regulatory efforts in some areas (Shiffman, 2020). ...
... Recreational fishing for sharks is a long-standing use of wildlife in public spaces that has garnered increasing attention in Florida in recent years (Fisher & Ditton, 1993;Shiffman et al., 2017). ...
Recreational shark fisheries have been the subject of recent public attention because of the possible impacts on shark populations and conflicts between stakeholders.
A case study is presented based on discussions that took place in summer 2018 about potential changes to policies regulating recreational land‐based shark fishing in Florida. Comments from public meetings and workshops (totalling 15.8 hours) and online comments (1,050) submitted to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) were analysed using the lens of actor–network theory.
The case study explores the intersection of conflicting stakeholder interests and types of knowledge, including how stakeholders variously defined the problem of user conflict in a coastal public space, and how they aligned themselves in relation to the problem and to each other. It further illustrates how shifting values and norms can intersect with changing technologies and environmental realities to produce new or increasing conflicts between natural resource user groups.
This study underlines the importance and potential benefits of regulatory agencies explicitly and transparently engaging with value trade‐offs when managing conflicts among users of natural resources.
... Twitter, Tumblr), personal websites, or online forms (e.g. Shiffman et al., 2017) or commenting on photos on Flickr, Facebook, or Instagram, providing information about fish, fisheries, and their usership ( Figure 1). Societal trends can also be gleaned from browser search volume, web page views, Wikipedia word counts, or other volumebased metrics related to online interactions with fish and fisheries topics . ...
... However, other types of data from social media can provide insights into social aspects of recreational fishers. Content analysis of the text of posts made to an online discussion forum examined which shark species were captured and released by South Florida's land-based fishery (Shiffman et al., 2017). The study found that many can purchase a license and participate in the fishery (Post, 2013). ...
... Although social media data come with limitations (e.g. people's tendency to post their 'best' captures), iEcology can help identify areas for future research and guide management decisions on which areas to prioritize(Shiffman et al., 2017). ...
Recreational fisheries are diverse in scale, scope, and participation worldwide, constituting an important ecosystem service of marine and freshwater ecosystems. Management of these socio‐ecological systems is challenged by monitoring gaps, stemming from difficulties engaging with participants, biased sampling, and insufficient resources to conduct biological or social surveys of fish and human populations. In the Internet age, online data have great potential to make a meaningful contribution to recreational fisheries research, monitoring, and management. Recreational fishers in some countries increasingly use social and other digital media to share their experiences with followers, with most data freely available to web scrapers that compile databases of text (e.g. tweets, status updates, comments), photos, videos and other media that contain information about spatiotemporal activity, sentiments towards catches/experiences, targeted and bycatch species, effort levels, and more. Although the future of recreational fisheries research, monitoring and management will likely involve more digital scraping, uptake is only just beginning and there are several challenges including tool availability/accessibility, sampling biases, and making findings relevant and usable to practitioners. Despite these challenges, we envision fisheries managers will increasingly turn towards online sources of fisheries data to supplement conventional methods. We challenge scientists to work towards continued method development and validation of various digital fisheries data tools and emphasize how biases from the online behaviour of users may complicate interpretations of these data for fisheries management.
... This shore-or land-based shark fishing is a subsection of the recreational shark fishing sector and occurs around the globe, including in South Africa (Dicken et al. 2006), Australia (Griffiths 2012), Argentina (Cuevas 2015), and Europe (authors, personal observations). In the United States, active shore-based shark fishing has been observed in several states, including California, Texas, the Carolinas, and finally, Florida (e.g., Kilfoil et al. 2017;Shiffman et al. 2017;Gibson et al. 2019;Weber et al. 2020). Compared to boat-based fisheries, shore-based shark fishing has a low barrier for entry given the ease of access and low cost of fishing from shore. ...
... In Florida, shore-based shark fishing was recently addressed by state managers after a recent publication highlighted illegal activity extracted from an online shorebased shark fishing forum (Shiffman et al. 2017) and the receipt of numerous complaints from the general public, scientists, and advocacy groups as a result of dead sharks along the Florida coastline (reviewed in Shiffman 2020). The shore-based shark fishery in Florida is thus highly polarized with differing opinions from various stakeholder groups regarding how the fishery should be managed or whether it should be banned outright. ...
... We acknowledge that our study presents some limitations as our survey captured only a sample of the entire fishery. We aimed to reduce sampling bias by sending our survey to the full shore-based shark fishing permit-holder list; however, lack of participation may have been a result of skepticism among anglers from this fishery towards researchers (Shiffman et al. 2017). Nonetheless, sociodemographic trends from the FWC permit-holder database illustrated that our sample was relatively representative and was an alternative to other studies dealing with human dimensions of shark recreational fisheries that have relied on snowball sampling (e.g., Gallagher et al. 2015;McClellan Press et al. 2016;French et al. 2018). ...
Shore‐based shark fishing in Florida is rarely monitored as it largely occurs at night on remote beaches and has received a questionable reputation after recent exposure of illegal activity. While these events have led to calls for better management and enforcement, the characteristics of the fishery itself remain largely unknown. Our study, therefore, provides the first comprehensive profile of the Florida shore‐based shark fishery to inform fisheries management and conservation. We distributed an online survey to all Florida Fish and Wildlife shore‐based shark fishing permit holders to gather data on angler sociodemographics, fishing preferences, habits, motivations, and perceptions of shark conservation. We identified three angler typologies that differed primarily by shark fishing experience and frequency: (1) experienced infrequent anglers, (2) skilled frequent anglers, and (3) novice infrequent anglers. Our results revealed that the Florida recreational shore‐based shark fishery itself has increased in participation fivefold since 2010 and generates approximately US$7.8 million (95% CI = $7.2– 8.5 million) annually in equipment expenditures and $34.3 million ($30.4–38.1 million) annually in fishing trips. Surveyed anglers caught a total of 9,617 sharks within a 12‐month period, averaging 11 sharks/angler, and the most preferred target species was the Blacktip Shark Carcharhinus limbatus. Angler motivations for participating in this fishery were grouped into the following categories: leisure and well‐being, experience of the catch, and consumption. Perceptions of shark conservation and management were generally positive; however, many anglers did not believe that recreational fishing negatively impacts shark populations. Most anglers expressed a desire to learn more about handling practices that benefited sharks, which may help managers implement more educational opportunities and communication efforts. Understanding the characteristics and perspectives of anglers from the shore‐based shark fishery in Florida is crucial for highlighting potential management pathways and estimating angler acceptance of management.
... To date, the existing quantitative and qualitative studies have explored knowledge about sharks [46], attitudes [19,47], or the content of conceptual maps (i.e., the relations between concepts or ideas) [19], websites discussion boards [48], newspapers [5,6], movies [49], and children drawings [50] about sharks. Globally, these studies have focused on individual knowledge and attitudes toward sharks, and, so far, little is known about the social representation of sharks. ...
... This representation is congruent with previous studies [e.g. 47,50,67]. Teeth was the general organizing node and was associated with ideas of insecurity (e. g., Fear, Danger) and attacks (e.g., Bite, Blood, Deadly, Predator), and with one very specific over-mediatized species of shark, i.e., the Great White. ...
... Recent research has emphasized the importance of understanding the psychosocial factors that can promote positive attitudes and behaviors towards sharks in the general public to encourage support for shark conservation policies [47]. The present work contributed to such effort and extended previous research by highlighting the usefulness of studying the social representation of sharks to reconnect humans and sharks. ...
Sharks are crucial to the marine ecosystem, but they are critically declining. Their bad public image explains, to some extent, the lesser concern for their conservation compared to other marine species. Extending previous research which has mainly focused on the study of attitudes towards sharks, we propose a two studies sequence, first by exploring the shark’s social representation, followed by an exploration of some stereotypical traits that may affect attitudes toward shark conservation. Study 1 specifically exploreed the social representation of sharks in a sample of zoo goers (N = 979). Main results showed that the representation was ambivalent and participants considered sharks as human predators. Surprisingly, findings showed that sharks were also seen as highly agentic and little communal animals. Consequently, Study 2 (N = 60) was designed to more thoroughly explore this gendered view as well as its implications in the attitudes and behavioral intention towards shark conservation. Results showed that, although sharks were again perceived as highly agentic, it was the perception of the sharks’ communality that was associated with more positive attitudes towards their conservation and a higher tendency to choose a shark conservation trust as first choice. Implications of studies 1 and 2 results for sharks’ conservation communication strategies and policies are discussed.
... This identity is echoed in studies of recreational shark fishers and operators (Barrowclift et al., 2017). Notably, many fishers saw their own knowledge and perceptions of shark population trends as being at odds with regulations, and by extension those regulations as an unmerited challenge to their ability to fish (Lynch et al., 2010;Shiffman and Hammerschlag, 2014;Shiffman et al., 2017). Studies of recreational shark fishers in Florida and Australia found that fishers generally displayed pro-conservation behaviors and attitudes; for instance, most were aware that "catch-and-release" fishing, where the shark is released instead of taken, serves to maintain the functional role of sharks in their environment (Lynch et al., 2010;Shiffman and Hammerschlag, 2014;Heard et al., 2016). ...
... (McCagh et al., 2015;Nosal et al., 2016b;Fraser-Baxter and Medvecky, 2018;Sabatier and Huveneers, 2018). In alternative scenarios, an individual may experience sharks through scuba diving (Whatmough et al., 2011;Apps et al., 2015Apps et al., , 2018 and recreational fishing (Lynch et al., 2010;Mcclellan Press et al., 2015;Heard et al., 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017) which engender a familiarity with sharks in the wild; or through documentaries and aquarium exhibits which frame sharks in a positive, nonthreatening way (Gendron, 2004;Nosal et al., 2016b;Pepin-Neff and Wynter, 2018). Experiences via contact in the wild or in educational settings where sharks are positively framed are more likely to lead to emotional attachments which engender RV such as stewardship, whereby the individual may be more predisposed to support policies or projects for sustainable shark populations. ...
... A common theme that emerged from commercial fishers is that they are perceived as the "enemy" of tourism or he recreational fishing of sharks (Anderson and Ahmed, 1993;Shiffman et al., 2017). Numerous publications are available to appropriately critique cumulative impacts of shark fisheries (and shark bycatch); these studies show that while overexploitation is associated with population declines, appropriate management can lead to rebounding or sustained shark populations, and sustainable shark fisheries (Campana et al., 2006;Dulvy et al., 2014;Peterson et al., 2017;Simpfendorfer and Dulvy, 2017). ...
Sharks occupy unique roles in human society: objects of conservation campaigns, fishery and tourism resources, maligned predators inciting fear in beach-goers, and subjects of inquisitive scientists. There are more than 1250 species of sharks and their relatives, which have persisted on Earth in some evolutionary form for over 420 million years and now occupy countless environments - from arctic waters and tropical coral reefs, to deep seabeds and inland rivers. Sharks range in size from 20 centimeters (the dwarf lanternshark) to 20 meters (the whale shark), performing an array of functions in their natural habitats and in human society. For conservation purposes, sharks have generally been framed as having either intrinsic or instrumental value, that is value simply by merit of their existence or value for the sake of human use. This presentation will examine them in terms of relational values - that is, human values derived from a relationship with sharks, such as self- or community-identity, moral obligation to conserve non-human species, notions of well-being, and stewardship. We propose that efforts to rebuild or sustain shark populations through regulating human activities are more likely to succeed through assessing and considering relational values of all stakeholders, and mediating conflicting value frameworks (e.g., fishers versus environmentalists). We also discuss how relational values through sharks have manifested in the scientific community, fishers, indigenous groups, tourists, and the public, the unique roles held by each in ‘valuing’ sharks, and how policies targeting these groups’ behavior are well suited to include relational value assessments.
... This means that hammerhead sharks are poor candidates for catch and release fishing. Hammerhead sharks are a popular target of Florida recreational anglers , and there are even hammerhead shark focused fishing tournaments (Shiffman, Macdonald, Ganz, & Hammerschlag, 2017). Land-based shark anglers commonly engage in unnecessarily rough angling and handling practices prior to releasing the sharks they catch (Shiffman et al., 2017). ...
... Hammerhead sharks are a popular target of Florida recreational anglers , and there are even hammerhead shark focused fishing tournaments (Shiffman, Macdonald, Ganz, & Hammerschlag, 2017). Land-based shark anglers commonly engage in unnecessarily rough angling and handling practices prior to releasing the sharks they catch (Shiffman et al., 2017). These practices likely result in post-release mortality (indeed, dead hammerhead sharks wash up on beaches shortly after land-based fishing occurs) or sublethal effects. ...
... By speaking with policymakers and policy experts, I developed an understanding of where the key data gaps preventing policy change were, and designed scientific research projects to fill those gaps. After researching the problem(Shiffman et al., , 2017 and consulting with stakeholders, decision makers, law enforcement officers, and other scientists, I recommended a set of policy solutions to the managing authorities (FWC) that would reduce mortality for threatened shark species without infringing on the rights of rule-following conservationminded anglers in the form of a detailed policy brief (Data S1: "An Achievable Solution" and "Policy Brief"). The solution I proposed focused on restricting harmful and unnecessary angling practices without attempting to ban all fishing, and specifically focused on avoiding prolonged air exposure, long fight times, abrasions from dragging, and injuries from specific gear types (e.g.,Kerstetter & Graves, 2006). ...
Sharks are taxa of significant conservation concern, and while commercial overfishing is the leading cause of population declines, recreational angling poses an increasing threat to some coastal shark populations. Here, I present a detailed case study of my role in a multi‐stakeholder process to improve policy surrounding recreational fishing for threatened sharks in Florida. While many other people including other scientists, concerned citizens, responsible conservation‐minded anglers, and environmental activists played key roles throughout this process, my scientific research and public engagement contributed significantly, and is the focus of this case study. Over the course of several years, my research documented the scope of several unnecessary angler practices that were harmful to threatened shark species. As a result of my research and stakeholder interactions, I was able to propose science‐based politically feasible policy solutions, and I strategically communicated the problem and possible solutions to policymakers, journalists, environmental activists, scientific professional societies, and the public. In July of 2019, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission enacted new rules for land‐based shark fishing in Florida waters, incorporating several of my proposed solutions. This case study demonstrates that through careful planning, understanding policy, developing a strategic communication plan, and networking with key stakeholders, even early career researchers can successfully help to change policy and help protect threatened species. Supplementary materials (Data S1) contain detailed background information, a timeline of events, and a diverse set of examples of my science communication.
... This identity is echoed in studies of recreational shark fishers and operators (Barrowclift et al., 2017). Notably, many fishers saw their own knowledge and perceptions of shark population trends as being at odds with regulations, and by extension those regulations as an unmerited challenge to their ability to fish (Lynch et al., 2010;Shiffman and Hammerschlag, 2014;Shiffman et al., 2017). Studies of recreational shark fishers in Florida and Australia found that fishers generally displayed pro-conservation behaviors and attitudes; for instance, most were aware that "catch-and-release" fishing, where the shark is released instead of taken, serves to maintain the functional role of sharks in their environment (Lynch et al., 2010;Shiffman and Hammerschlag, 2014;Heard et al., 2016). ...
... (McCagh et al., 2015;Nosal et al., 2016b;Fraser-Baxter and Medvecky, 2018;Sabatier and Huveneers, 2018). In alternative scenarios, an individual may experience sharks through scuba diving (Whatmough et al., 2011;Apps et al., 2015Apps et al., , 2018 and recreational fishing (Lynch et al., 2010;Mcclellan Press et al., 2015;Heard et al., 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017) which engender a familiarity with sharks in the wild; or through documentaries and aquarium exhibits which frame sharks in a positive, nonthreatening way (Gendron, 2004;Nosal et al., 2016b;Pepin-Neff and Wynter, 2018). Experiences via contact in the wild or in educational settings where sharks are positively framed are more likely to lead to emotional attachments which engender RV such as stewardship, whereby the individual may be more predisposed to support policies or projects for sustainable shark populations. ...
... A common theme that emerged from commercial fishers is that they are perceived as the "enemy" of tourism or he recreational fishing of sharks (Anderson and Ahmed, 1993;Shiffman et al., 2017). Numerous publications are available to appropriately critique cumulative impacts of shark fisheries (and shark bycatch); these studies show that while overexploitation is associated with population declines, appropriate management can lead to rebounding or sustained shark populations, and sustainable shark fisheries (Campana et al., 2006;Dulvy et al., 2014;Peterson et al., 2017;Simpfendorfer and Dulvy, 2017). ...
Relational values (RV) are values that arise from a relationship with nature, encompassing a sense of place, feelings of well-being (mental and physical health), and cultural, community, or personal identities. With sharks, such values are formed by diverse groups that interact with these animals and their ecosystems, either physically or virtually, whether a scientist, student, fisher, or media-viewer. Further, these user groups may overlap or come into conflict over management plans, media portrayals of sharks, and their conservation status. Although scientists have not explicitly aimed to assess RV through sharks, qualitative studies of shark fishers, tourism operators, tourists, and the public, as well as historical and archeological accounts, can be interpreted through an analytical lens to reveal values which can also be defined as relational. To this end, this review considers studies capturing RV alongside those of economic value (increasingly, the value of a shark is appraised by their financial value in shark tourism) and the social and cultural roles of sharks. Based on these studies and the broader RV literature, we then outline a workflow for how RV can be leveraged in scientific inquiry, equitable resource management, and education. We conclude that via collaborative assessments of RV, with implicit inclusion of multiple values of sharks and by acknowledging their importance to all parties involved in user conflicts, the RV framework can lead to a constructive dialog on polarizing conservation and management issues. By illuminating shared values, and/or revealing dichotomies of values ascribed toward certain areas or objects, this framework can provide inroads to mediation, seeking to conserve or even restore relationships with nature, and their derived values as much as is possible. This approach can yield unexpected knowledge, solutions, and compromises in an increasingly complex conservation landscape.
... Sharks (subclass: Elasmobranchii; superorder Selachii) present an opportunity to diversify the human-wildlife conflict literature. Research around human-shark interaction has focused primarily on public (Friedrich et al., 2014;Garla et al., 2015;O'Bryhim and Parsons, 2015;Acuña-Marrero et al., 2018) and fisher (McClellan Press et al., 2016;Drymon and Scyphers, 2017;Shiffman et al., 2017;French et al., 2019) attitudes toward shark conservation, fisheries interaction patterns and their economic and ecological implications (Stevens et al., 2000;Glaus et al., 2019;Mason et al., 2019), and efforts to mitigate shark depredation and bycatch (Carruthers and Neis, 2011;Gilman et al., 2015;Oliver et al., 2015;Kumar et al., 2016;Mitchell et al., 2018). Researchers have also focused on characterizing the global shark seafood trade (Clarke et al., 2006;Shea and To, 2017), shifting livelihoods of shark fishers (Jaiteh et al., 2017), and emerging opportunities and challenges in shark tourism (Techera, 2012;Vianna et al., 2012). ...
... Awareness of deeper conflicts is therefore critical to effective problem-solving. This study illuminated issues of power, historical relationships, and identity in fishers' problem definitions that necessitate relationships-and process-based solutions (Webber et al., 2007;Campbell and Cornwell, 2008;Penney et al., 2017;Shiffman et al., 2017;Crespin and Simonetti, 2019). Interviewees described concerns about fisheries management and science that degraded fishers' perceptions of their legitimacy (Table 3). ...
Fisheries are often conceptualized through a biophysical lens resulting in management approaches that fail to account for stakeholder conflicts and sociopolitical inequities. Using a fisher engagement approach, this case study examines the sociopolitical dimensions of fisher-shark interactions in pursuit of more complete problem definitions and effective solutions. Through interviews with Hawai‘i small boat fishers and observations of a community-based shark-tagging project, we examined fisher perspective, socioeconomic landscapes, stakeholder relationships, and power dynamics. We interpreted these data using an adapted framework that mobilizes concepts from conflict theory and problem definition. We discovered that economic cost, sharks as fishing competitors, and factors of fishers' on-the-water decisions define the fisher-shark interaction problem at the dispute level. Deeper conflicts include fishers' poor perceptions of management legitimacy, degraded relationships with researchers and managers, threatened fisher identities, and poor enforcement capacity. Together, dispute and deeper conflicts limit the effectiveness of singular approaches (e.g., regulation) to mitigate fisher-shark interactions and necessitate multi-pronged solutions with substance-, process-, and relationships-based components. This case study documented one such multi-pronged strategy employing fisher-researcher knowledge exchange, collaborative research, and means of more transparent communication. This strategy has the potential to affect both dispute- and deeper-level outcomes by advancing collective understanding of sharks and shark-handling tools, fisher behavior, and reducing shark mortality. Thus, a sociopolitical approach to problem-solving may yield greater collective benefits to fisheries stakeholders and sharks, with broader implications for the systemic management of complex human and biophysical ecosystem components.
... lactate; Heard et al., 2014), suggesting that repeated blood sampling can more accurately assess physiological stress in elasmobranchs (Frick et al., 2009;Van Rijn and Reina, 2010). Understanding the physiological effects of air exposure during handling is becoming increasingly important, as a specialized method of recreational fishing targeting large coastal sharks from beaches, known as shore-based or land-based shark angling, has been receiving increasing attention in recent years (Ajemian et al., 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017). Sharks caught from the shore are often brought out of the water and onto the sand for hook removal and photographs and may be subject to increased handling stress and exposure to air, reducing the shark's ability to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide (Casselman, 2005). ...
... The blacktip is a migratory species that inhabits shallow coastal waters and surface offshore waters and preys primarily on small bony fishes and small elasmobranchs (Castro, 2011). Blacktip sharks are currently the most commonly landed large coastal shark species in the US Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico [National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), 2019b]; were the most frequently captured shark reported by users of a shore-based shark angling forum in Florida (Shiffman et al., 2017); and were one of the most frequently landed sharks in a Texas shore-based shark fishery (Ajemian et al., 2016). Previous research conducted on the stress response of blacktip sharks caught on longlines indicates that the species may exhibit a strictly respiratory response to capture (i.e. an acidosis driven by the accumulation of CO 2 ; Mandelman and Skomal, 2009), and it has been suggested that blacktip sharks could lack the mechanisms (e.g. ...
A suite of blood chemistry parameters (including acid–base indicators and plasma electrolytes) was serially measured in blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus), captured via rod-and-reel, to gain a more thorough understanding of the physiological stress response to recreational capture. Sharks were caught both from the shore and from fishing vessels and experienced varying degrees of air exposure during handling. While all captured sharks exhibited a metabolic acidosis during the fight on the line (increasing lactate and decreasing pH and bicarbonate), the observed acidosis was compounded by a respiratory component (increasing pCO2) in sharks removed from the water during handling. Vessel-caught sharks handled in the water exhibited significantly greater increases in lactate and glucose (0.73 ± 0.21 mmoll−1 min−1 and 0.81 ± 1.07 mg dl−1 min−1, respectively) than sharks handled out of water (0.21 ± 0.17 mmoll−1 min−1 and −0.32 ± 1.05 mg dl−1 min−1; p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). These findings provide insights into how differences in recreational capture methods and air exposure can mediate the origin and magnitude of capture-related stress and highlight the importance of considering both sampling time (time from capture to phlebotomy) and sampling location (in water vs. out) in studies conducted on capture-related stress.
... effective and unobtrusive manner (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Many researchers have utilised different social media platforms for gathering data on recreational fisheries (Belhabib et al., 2016;Martin, Chizinski, Eskridge, & Pope, 2014;Martin, Pracheil, DeBoer, Wilde, & Pope, 2012;Shiffman, Macdonald, Ganz, & Hammerschlag, 2017), and video recordings by recreational spearfishermen have proved useful for monitoring the fish assemblages (Bulleri & Benedetti-Cecchi, 2014). ...
... Apart from the angling conducted in Croatia, which separated from the four sub-techniques, group A clustered together the angling conducted in all the countries (apart from Cyprus), group B clustered together all the trolling, group C all the longline (and from shore-angling in Croatia and Slovenia and angling in France) and group D all the shore-angling and spearfishing (Figure 2).4 | D ISCUSS I ONUnconventional sources of information, such as social network videos, are increasingly being used in recreational fisheries research in F I G U R E 1 Percentage of videos utilising different fishing techniques per country. Gear codes: AH, angling; FT, fish trapping; LL, longlines; SA, shore-angling; SF, spearfishing; and TR, trolling other parts of the world(Banha, Veríssimo, Ribeiro & Anastácio, 2017;Belhabib et al., 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017), but never so far in the Mediterranean Sea. Taking into account the scarcity of data regarding recreational fishing in the area(Hyder et al., 2017) and the poor situation of the Mediterranean fish stocks (European Environmental Agency (EEA), 2015), this work contributes to understanding ...
The impact of recreational fishing on fish stocks remains largely unknown, as this is inherently difficult to monitor, especially in areas such as the Mediterranean Sea where many species are targeted using a variety of fishing gears and techniques. This study attempts to complement existing data sets and construct the profile of recreational fisheries in the EU‐Mediterranean countries using videos publicly available on social media. A total of 1526 video records were selected, featuring the capture of 7799 fish specimens. The results show recreational fishing is multispecies in nature (26 species contributed to >80% % of the most numerically important species caught) and exhibits a spatially homogeneous pattern, with differences in species composition being mostly dependent on the fishing technique used rather than on the country. Such findings fill an important knowledge gap on recreational fishing activities, and the methodology provides an innovative approach to gather statistics on data‐poor thematic areas that can potentially complement other data sets, such as the EU Data Collection Multi‐Annual Programme.
... Mining social media data and the dark web can illuminate labour abuses and other illegal activity that historically has been nearly impossible to penetrate (Greenemeier 2015). Online forums can illuminate how and why resource users are flouting regulations, information not generally communicated accurately to regulators but critical for developing effective management (Shiffman et al. 2017). Social media is also providing new sources of data for scientists. ...
We are in the middle of an explosion in new data on the ocean, creating enormous potential for advances in our understanding and stewardship of ocean resources. An exponential increase in the number and variety of ocean observing systems and other new data sources has created the prospect of a digital ocean ecosystem. Advances in processing techniques and visualisation are rapidly expanding our ability to extract information from those data, and are enabling a wide array of tools to provide real-time information in actionable form to decision-makers, such as policymakers, resource managers, resource users, consumers and citizens.
... The use of social media data is becoming increasingly widespread in ecological and fisheries research to better describe limited-data fisheries, and this trend is expected to continue as social media use increases globally [22,23]. Recently, researchers have sought to exploit novel data sources, including social media [24][25][26][27] and news articles [28][29][30][31][32]. ...
Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is recognised as one of the largest threats to the sustainability of the world’s fisheries. The fight against IUU fishing activities has recently become a high priority in the international fisheries management agenda. While a number of academic contributions have sought to improve the understanding of the problem, data are still limited, especially in developing countries. In the absence of any information in this regard in Egypt, this contribution is the first attempt to report the available information about cases of Egyptian fishing vessels detained for fishing illegally in neighbouring countries, including the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The highest number of cases was observed in 2015 (7 cases) followed by 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2020 (each with 5 cases). The highest number of detained vessels by far was observed in 2020 (44 vessels) followed by 2015 (19 vessels). Tunisia was the country with the highest number of cases (17 cases) followed by Libya (10 cases), while Somalia detained the highest number of vessels (42 vessels) followed by Libya (22 vessels). The results shed light on the problems that led to this situation, starting with depleted fisheries, a poor monitoring system and a difficult economic situation in the fishing sector.
... The strategy now focuses mostly on single-use plastics and packaging. For instance, the UK government proposes to levy a price on poor-quality plastics, particularly the most environmentally harmful single-use plastics such as carbon black plastic, lids, straws, coffee cups and other household products (Shiffman et al., 2017). ...
Waste trade, like those of other resources, has grown globally. The waste trade must be implemented in order to ensure environmental sustainability and the transition to a circular economy (CE). Waste trade, in the context of CE, serves as a basis for the development of circular business operations by facilitating end-of-life product management activities such as product return, reuse, recycling, and refurbishment. China is regarded as a global leader in recycling and solid waste disposal. Solid waste management is the process of reusing manufactured products to recover and reuse resources including plastics. However, the reassessment of the quality of traded recyclable materials has sparked a global waste governance dilemma. The goal of this study is to bring attention to the environmental consequences of plastic waste in a transition to a CE and the overview of China's national sword policy prohibition law. Using a qualitative approach, this study will analyse, assess, and formulate the practices of the waste trade that is now practised in the business. Various types of waste and how they cause emissions, waste trade and CE, China’s national sword policy and the consequences of worldwide plastic trade on businesses and the environment will be discussed. Additionally, a few steps that should be addressed including appropriate waste management and public awareness are also discussed. China's national sword policy is widely acknowledged to have a substantial effect on its neighbourhood countries including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. This study concluded with a recommendation for how the developing countries could benefit from China's pathways.
... Several methods have been employed to determine the extent of noncompliance with regulations pertaining to resource use. These include compiling data from law enforcement records (Cowles et al., 1979;Holmern et al., 2007;Mann, 1995), covert and direct behavioural observations (Agnew, 2000;Davis et al., 2017;Rowcliffe et al., 2004), crowd-sourcing and social media (Shiffman et al., 2017), indirect observations (Williamson et al., 2014), self-reported catch logs (Reddy et al., 2014), forensics studies (Holmes et al., 2009;Shivji et al., 2005), predictive modelling (Pitcher et al., 2002;Pitcher and Watson, 2000) and the use of direct (Blank and Gavin, 2009;Bova et al., 2017;Mann, 1995;Wilberg, 2009) or indirect (Arias et al., 2020;Cerri et al., 2021;Davis et al., 2020;Schill and Kline, 1995) questioning through surveys, which rely on self-reporting by respondents. No method for estimating compliance is perfect as they all have their own advantages and caveats, but some methods may be more suitable than others under certain conditions (Cerri et al., 2021;Gavin et al., 2010). ...
Non-compliance with recreational fishery regulations is considered to be one of the biggest threats to the sustainability of fisheries. Dedicated non-compliance studies are seldom carried out at the national level which makes it difficult to discern the behavioural compliance norms within a population. The instrumental approach for compliance is the traditional paradigm in recreational fisheries. It postulates that increased enforcement activities and the corresponding punishment will improve compliance behaviour, although there is little empirical evidence for such a supposition within the recreational fisheries context. Using face-to-face encounter surveys employing the ballot box method for reducing social desirability bias (SDB), South African marine shore-based fishery (MSBF) participants were questioned on their compliance behaviour with a set of regulations pertaining to the fishery. Overall non-compliance levels were very high (52%), and non-compliance levels with individual regulations varied based on provincial locality. Perceptions and observations of enforcement activity had no significant impact on compliance behaviour. Participants that had previously been caught by law enforcement violating the regulations were still more likely to violate the regulations than participants that had not faced enforcement action. Results indicate that calls for increased enforcement as a means of improving compliance behaviour are questionable in the South African MSBF, and further emphasise the need to develop alternative approaches, such as those pertaining to normative theory, within recreational fisheries.
... The rise of different social media platforms and the popularization of internet created a space for the exchange of information on different aspects of wildlife. These spaces allow the propagation of legal and illegal activities (EL BIZRI et al., 2015;SHIFFMAN et al., 2017;FERRAZ et al., 2019a), and can also influence consumption patterns of different foods such as amphibians. Frog farming in Brazil has great growth potential as new breeding methods are being studied and new species are being described in terms of trade for consumption (SOUSA and MALTAROLO, 2019), along with the abundant of information on breeding on YouTube TM (RIBEIRO and TOLEDO, 2022). ...
The consumption of anurans is almost non-existent in the Brazilian Amazon, and the objective of this study was to describe the consumption of white-lipped frogs (Leptodactylus macrosternum) influenced by YouTube TM videos in the Brazilian Amazon. The consumption records were made in the rural community of Cujubim Grande, belonging to the municipality of Porto Velho, Rondônia state. The interviewee stated that she started consuming the white-lipped frog after watching videos on YouTube TM. Her closest family members do not consume white-lipped frog due to aversion to the group and the availability of other animal protein sources. This demonstrates how videos on an online platform contribute to changing dietary habits of the rural populations in the Amazon.
... These human dimensions of recreational fisheries have explicit impacts on and interdependencies with the ecological sides of these systems that must be assessed and accounted for when addressing resource governance challenges and achieving desired conservation outcomes within these complex systems (Bodin et al., 2014;Hunt et al., 2013;Lewin et al., 2006;Ostrom, 2009). Some of this is demonstrated by relationships between angler characteristics, such as heterogeneity in motivations to fish, what management goals they desire as resource users, their compliance with regulations, and adoption of voluntary best practices when fishing (Arostegui et al., 2021;Olaussen, 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017). In the context of C&R these human dimensions are particularly important as they can drive harvest patterns (Ferter et al., 2013), outcomes for released fish through gear selection, when and where fishing occurs, and how fish are handled before release (Cooke et al., 2017a). ...
The wide variety of perspectives and actions of individual anglers contribute greatly to success or failure when adopting and implementing fisheries management tools. Catch-and-release (C&R) is one such tool where success is influenced by both variation in human factors, but also species and fishery specific characteristics. In this study, an intercept survey of 94 sea trout anglers in a C&R dominated fishery on the Swedish island of Gotland investigated motivations to release or retain catches, self-assessment of anglers' own ability to release fish, and their rating of the importance of various factors influencing the successful outcomes of C&R. Retention of catches was most strongly motivated by situations where anglers deemed the fish unlikely to survive, however more than half of anglers acknowledged being unaware of delayed mortality in released fish. The spawning status of an individual fish was the primary motivation for release, particularly among anglers that prefer to keep at least some of their catches. The roles of water temperature, using single, and barbless hooks were scored as significantly less important than other components contributing to the success of a release. Anglers that gave a favourable rating to their ability to release sea trout also gave greater importance to various factors influencing the success of release, reported higher catch per unit effort, and released a greater proportion of their catches. These findings are discussed in the context of bridging knowledge and behavioural gaps around best practices for C&R in this fishery.
... There is increasing interest in mining data from social networking sites (e.g. Facebook and Twitter) to improve understanding of wildlife participants' practices and behavior (Wood et al., 2013;Martin et al., 2014;Belhabib et al., 2016;Hinsley et al., 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017) and their activity. ...
National hunters' associations (NHAs) are non-governmental organizations (NGOs) dealing with topics of hunting and conservation. We believe that NHAs have an important role in promoting hunting, wildlife protection, and shaping a positive public opinion about these subjects. Paper explores the basic characteristics and activities of the official Facebook Pages of NHAs among EU countries. The results have shown that the official NHA Facebook Pages don't use the potential visible through the number of registered hunters and Page followers. Also, certain parameters used in the paper show preferable Page content in order to achieve more engagement. The findings of this paper are the first step into understanding the use of Facebook in hunting promotion and will serve as a starting point for further research.
... The relatively high use of urban areas by tracked sharks found in this study has consequences for both shark health and human safety. Notably, high use of urban-impacted sites exposes sharks to increased vulnerability from land-and boat-based angling in the region (Shiffman & Hammerschlag 2014, Shiffman et al. 2017. While sharks in Florida are often caught and released for sport, great hammerhead sharks exhibit a pronounced capture stress response and are vulnerable to post-release mortality (Gallagher et al. 2014b, Jerome et al. 2018). ...
Understanding and ultimately predicting how marine organisms will respond to urbanization is central for effective wildlife conservation and management in the Anthropocene. Sharks are upper trophic level predators in virtually all marine environments, but if and how their behaviors are influenced by coastal urbanization remains understudied. Here, we examined space use and residency patterns of 14 great hammerheads Sphyrna mokarran , 13 bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas , and 25 nurse sharks Ginglymostoma cirratum in proximity to the coastal metropolis of Miami, Florida, using passive acoustic telemetry. Based on the terrestrial urban carnivore literature, we predicted sharks would exhibit avoidance behaviors of areas close to Miami, with residency patterns in these urban areas increasing during periods of lower human activity, such as during nocturnal hours and weekdays, and that dietary specialists (great hammerhead) would exhibit comparatively lower affinity towards highly urbanized areas relative to dietary generalists (bull and nurse shark). However, we did not find empirical support for these predictions. Space use patterns of tracked sharks were consistent with that of ‘urban adapters’ (species that exhibit partial use of urban areas). Modeling also revealed that an unmeasured spatial variable was driving considerable shark residency in areas exposed to high urbanization. We propose several hypotheses that could explain our findings, including food provisioning from shore-based activities that could be attracting sharks to urban areas. Ultimately, the lack of avoidance of urban areas by sharks documented here, as compared to terrestrial carnivores, should motivate future research in the growing field of urban ecology.
... Overall, plenty of knowledge on the peoples' attitudes toward sharks has emerged over the last two decades. To date, various quantitative and qualitative methods have been used to study attitudes towards sharks or shark conservation including the general knowledge about sharks (Friedrich et al., 2014), attitudes toward sharks (Thompson & Mintzes, 2002;Acuña-Marrero et al., 2018), conceptual maps (Thompson & Mintzes, 2002), content analysis of websites (e.g., Discussion board, see Shiffman et al., 2017), newspapers (Boissonneault, 2011;Boissonneault et al., 2005) and movies (Rugen, 2013), people's fear of sharks (Le Busque et al., 2021b) and finally analysis of children's drawings and interviews (Neves & Monteiro, 2014). ...
... Even though social media data are non-independent in space and time (Bodin and Crona, 2009), data mining approaches are gaining notoriety as data collection tools. In the world of recreational fishing, mining of social media has been shown to be a useful tool for recording fishing trophies (Giovos et al., 2018;Sbragaglia et al., 2019;Giglio et al., 2020), indicating potential impacts on endangered species Shiffman et al., 2017;Gibson et al., 2019;Giglio et al., 2020), and for assessing illegal fishing (Roos and Longo, 2021). In fact, social media could be a cost-effective and efficient way to collect large amounts of data on a relatively data-poor and unmonitored fishery and can play an important role in monitoring recreational fishing activities (Thurstan et al., 2017;Giovos et al., 2018;Gundelund et al., 2020;Roos and Longo, 2021). ...
Brazil is currently facing one of the worst environmental crises in history. The over-exploitation of natural resources , unrestrained expansion of fisheries, and mostly ineffective conservation policies impose great difficulty in regulating and supervising fishing activities, whether commercial or recreational. Unreported and unregulated recreational fisheries are largely carried out along the Brazilian coast; however, their potential for exploitation of fish stocks remain unknown. To obtain data regarding this popular and poorly known leisure activity, we compiled information on catches posted by recreational anglers on a social media platform between 2008 and 2013. Photographic records of fish caught on the continental shelf off the southern Atlantic Ocean in Brazil were downloaded and assessed, and species were identified and quantified (trophies and total captures) for each fishing trip (day), including the number of anglers, totaling 788 fishing days, with an average of 4.2 anglers/day. A total of 50 species were recorded: eight elasmobranchs and 42 teleosteans. Regarding conservation status, 25 species were categorized as threatened (25.5%) and one as data deficient (25.5%) at the global level according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Notably, elasmobranchs, dolphinfishes, bluefishes, croakers, triggerfishes, Atlantic bigeyes, and sharks showed high capture frequencies. Our results indicate the need for an efficient system to monitor recreational fishing, as well as co-management plans discussed with all stakeholders to control and reduce the worrying rate of capture of threatened species.
... In recent years, several studies have found uses for data mining on digital platforms to inform about recreational fisheries (Shiffman et al., 2017;Giovos et al., 2018;Monkman et al., 2018;Giglio et al., 2020;Sbragaglia et al., 2020). For example, data mined on YouTube allowed finding that recreational fishing catches in Mediterranean EU countries target similar species, and that potential differences are mainly related to the use of different fishing techniques (Giovos et al., 2018). ...
Social media may provide information for monitoring recreational fisheries, but several caveats prevent operationalization. Specifically, the fraction and profile of recreational fishers sharing their catches is not known. Our aim was to advance the monitoring capacities of recreational fishing using social media data. We collected data with onsite (face-to-face) survey and online (emails) questionnaires to characterize marine recreational fishers sharing catches on digital platforms ("sharers") along with other demographic or fishing information. In the online survey we found that 38% of recreational fishers share their catches using digital platforms (including the private messaging platform WhatsApp), but such proportion dropped to 12% when considering only public or semi-public social media (Instagram was the most commonly used platform, followed by Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter). A similar pattern was found with the online questionnaire where sharers represented 37% of recreational fishers (including WhatsApp), while such proportion dropped to 21% when considering only public or semi-public social media. In general, sharers were more avid (24 and 35 yearly fishing trips for onsite and online survey, respectively) compared to non-sharers (18 and 31 yearly fishing trips). Sharers also spent more money on each fishing trip (on average 26 and 31 euro for onsite and online survey, respectively) than non-sharers (on average 21 and 28 euro for onsite and online survey, respectively), but they had similar chances of catching something. However, for fishers with catches, the harvest per unit effort of sharers was higher than that of non-sharers (0.4 and 0.5 kg/h with respect to 0.3 and 0.4 kg/h, for onsite and online survey, respectively). Moreover, recreational fishers that caught trophy, iconic, or emblematic species were more inclined to share their catches. This study represents an important advancement for integrating social media data into the monitoring of recreational fishing.
... Recently, several researchers put effort into understanding the attitudes of different factors involved, directly or indirectly, in shark protection and shark fisheries for advancing their conservation (e.g. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Among other impacts, public opinion plays a significant role in shaping environmental policies [23] and is a key factor for achieving environmental "gains" [24]. ...
Sharks are among the oldest residents of the planet, they possess a unique value as top predators and constitute irreplaceable elements of marine ecosystems. Unfortunately, contemporary narratives widely presented in popular mainstream media have attached an utterly negative connotation to sharks, propagating an unsubstantiated and fabricated image of them as implacable and voracious predators. Recently a lot of attention is devoted to understanding the public perception towards sharks in order to promote their conservation given that a quarter of all shark species are facing extinction. This work assessed the current attitude of the public towards sharks on a global scale, utilizing modern technology through a single protocol that explored the importance of factors like culture, history, or educational level in shaping attitudes. We collected 13,800 questionnaires from 137 countries, with 25 countries presenting more than 100 answers each, representing in total 92% of the filled questionnaires. A generally positive attitude towards sharks emerged from our study, influenced significantly by several factors including knowledge and participation in marine conservation projects. Interestingly, shark attacks emerged as an important factor, with countries having high numbers of shark attacks exhibiting a highly positive attitude towards sharks, potentially because their citizens are more aware of the issue and the importance of sharks for the marine ecosystems. Guidelines for shifting public attitude towards sharks and consequently advancing shark conservation were also drawn.
... The use of digital data in marine conservation and ecology is gaining momentum [10]. In particular, such approaches are especially interesting for characterizing social and ecological aspects of recreational fishing [11][12][13][14][15]. This is an emerging area of research and because of it many researchers may not be fully aware of the data privacy concerns and other caveats associated with social media and other digital data [16]. ...
We highlight important steps that researchers should follow when using social media data, in particular when the aim of their research is to characterize illegal fishing. Specifically, we provide a checklist of mitigation strategies focusing on data privacy concerns and ethical principles associated with human-subject research. We hope our reflections will contribute to a more responsible use of social media and other digital platforms among marine conservation scientists.
... Great hammerheads were also considered for listing under the US Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2014, but were not listed based on a lack of species-level data available to infer population trends with high confidence, highlighting the conservation and management difficulties presented by identification across hammerhead species (Miller, Carlson, Hogan, & Kobayashi, 2014). Great hammerheads have been the subject of recent conservation concern and rule-making in Florida (e.g., in relation to land-based shark fishing) and are protected from commercial and recreational harvest in Florida waters (see Miller et al., 2014;Gallagher & Klimley, 2018;Shiffman et al. 2017;Shiffman 2020). Studies of great hammerhead movement ecology make clear the difficulty of conserving adult animals based on their large-scale migrations (which often move through international waters, creating regulatory and management barriers) and their intermittent philopatric attachment to particular sites (Guttridge et al., 2017;Harry, Macbeth, Gutteridge, & Simpfendorfer, 2011;Techera & Klein, 2011). ...
Great hammerheads (Sphyrna mokarran) have undergone significant global population declines and were assessed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN in 2019. Identification and protection of critical habitat, particularly during early life stages, is considered imperative for species conservation and management. We report the first identification of a probable nursery area for young‐of‐the‐year and juvenile great hammerheads off the Atlantic coast of the United States. Notably, these animals were all encountered within highly human‐impacted marine habitats near Miami, Florida. The capture of nine individuals under 200 cm total length in a 10‐month period supports the hypothesis that this area represents a primary or secondary nursery habitat for great hammerheads.
... Similar results were found in Australia where non-lethal approaches were preferred over lethal approaches by 78-85% of respondents [34]. Together, these and other recent studies in locations such as Australia, South Africa, and the United States (e.g., Florida, Hawaii) suggest a global trend of reduced ocean recreationist support for lethal shark policies and increasing concern among these recreationists for conserving and protecting sharks irrespective of whether or not they bite humans [14,17,2,23,3,34,40,43,46]. ...
Despite growing public pressure to use non-lethal strategies for managing predators (e.g., sharks) in marine ecosystems, the response of many governments remains largely lethal. This article examined recreationist support and understanding of approaches for managing sharks in two of South Africa’s marine areas. Questionnaires completed by 575 ocean recreationists at beaches near Cape Town and Durban showed they strongly disagreed with lethal management of sharks. The non-lethal Shark Spotters program was the most strongly supported strategy, followed by heat sensor cameras to detect sharks. Other non-lethal strategies (exclusion nets, personal repellent devices, deterrent cables, camouflage wetsuits) were supported by fewer than 50% of respondents, but were still more strongly supported than specific lethal strategies (shark hunts, drumlines, shark nets). Shark Spotters was more strongly supported near Cape Town, whereas the lethal strategies and a few of the other non-lethal approaches (personal electric repellent devices, electric deterrent cables, exclusion nets) were more strongly supported near Durban. Few respondents understood that shark nets and drumlines are designed to catch and kill large sharks. Understanding the function of shark nets correlated negatively with support for their use and positively with support for temporary exclusion nets. Implications of these results were discussed within the framework of a global transition from lethal to non-lethal management.
... The ability to use new technology to connect with anglers can also be used to understand behavioural responses (e.g. Martin et al. 2014;Shiffman et al. 2017) and engender compliance with regulation (Venturelli et al. 2017). For example, pushing messages about conservation orientated behaviour and good handling practices could be used to enhance positive behaviours and change social norms (e.g. ...
Technology that is developed for or adopted by the recreational fisheries sector (e.g., anglers and the recreational fishing industry) has led to rapid and dramatic changes in how recreational anglers interact with fisheries resources. From improvements in finding and catching fish to emulating their natural prey and accessing previously inaccessible waters, to anglers sharing their exploits with others, technology is completely changing all aspects of recreational fishing. These innovations would superficially be viewed as positive from the perspective of the angler (aside from the financial cost of purchasing some technologies), yet for the fisheries manager and policy maker, technology may create unintended challenges that lead to reactionary or even ill-defined approaches as they attempt to keep up with these changes. The goal of this paper is to consider how innovations in recreational fishing are changing the way that anglers interact with fish, and thus how recreational fisheries management is undertaken. We use a combination of structured reviews and expert analyses combined with descriptive case studies to highlight the many ways that technology is influencing recreational fishing practice, and, relatedly, what it means for changing how fisheries and/or these technologies need to be managed—from changes in fish capture, to fish handling, to how anglers share information with each other and with managers. Given that technology is continually evolving, we hope that the examples provided here lead to more and better monitoring of technological innovations and engagement by the management and policy authorities with the recreational fishing sector. Doing so will ensure that management actions related to emerging and evolving recreational fishing technology are more proactive than reactive.
... ii. Use social media as a resource to identify the presence of particular parrotfish species in the fishery, similar to how (Shiffman et al. 2017) used this tool to identify shark diversity in the recreational catch. ...
Parrotfishes are caught primarily by fish traps and spearfishing (targeted and incidental) for personal and commercial consumption. Over half (65 percent) of the responding countries and overseas territories indicated that they have either a complete harvesting ban or fishing regulations in place to promote the protection of parrotfishes to some extent. About half (56 percent) of the responding countries have fishery-independent surveys for parrotfishes, but the metrics evaluated by these surveys are not the same. Similarly, parrotfish-related outreach and education was varied throughout the Caribbean. Twelve countries (32 percent) report having specific parrotfish outreach campaigns or materials, while in other countries campaigns and materials were geared towards marine conservation in general. Most countries agree that long-term protection for parrotfishes is critical, but consensus about the specific measures required to achieve this is lacking.
... For example, by estimating sustainable harvest from satellite imagery (Dauwalter et al. 2017) rather than direct measures of lake depth and water quality (Rempel and Colby 1991). There is also a growing interest in digital sources of data such as internet search volume (Carter et al. 2015), online fora (Shiffman et al. 2017), social media (Sbragaglia et al. 2019), and smartphone applications (Liu et al. 2017;Venturelli et al. 2017). The following questions address persistent and emerging challenges associated with recreational fisheries data collection. ...
Recreational fisheries hold immense ecological, social, and economic value. The management of these fisheries is increasingly important as we move forward in the Anthropocene. Recreational fisheries managers face several challenges as fisheries often involve diverse social and ecological systems comprised of complex feedback and stakeholder motivations and needs. Here, we used a horizon scanning exercise to yield 100 research questions related to recreational fisheries science and management in the Anthropocene. Initial research questions (n = 205) were collected from recreational fisheries experts (i.e., stakeholders, managers, researchers) from various sectors (i.e., industry, government, NGOs) and geographic locations (14 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA). These questions were subsequently categorized, thematized, and refined by our authorship team, eventually yielding what we considered to be the top 100 research questions of relevance to management of recreational fisheries. The key themes include: human dimensions; bioeconomics; resource monitoring and data acquisition; governance; management—regulatory actions; management—stock and habitat enhancement; catch-and-release; impacts of recreational fisheries on populations, communities and ecosystems; threats and sustainability; and angler outreach, education and engagement. It is our intention that this comprehensive and forward-looking list will create a framework to guide future research within this field, and contribute to evidence-based recreational fisheries management and policy.
... on shark populations and therefore requires no regulation (Shiffman et al. 2017). However, another Florida-based study has demonstrated that personal knowledge of shark conservation issues positively influences anglers' willingness to act in favour of shark conservation, particularly of endangered species (Gallagher et al. 2015). ...
The Mediterranean Sea is a hotspot for shark conservation. A decline in large pelagic shark populations has been observed in this vast region over the last 50 years and a lack of data on the local population status of various species has been pointed out. Throughout history, the relation between people and sharks has been revolving around a mixture of mystery, fear, and attraction. Recently, however, a remunerative ecotourism industry has been growing in areas of shark aggregation globally. This growth has been accompanied by the establishment of a citizen science (CS) movement aimed to engage and recruit ecotourists in data collection for shark research. Several CS projects have generated interesting results in terms of scientific findings and public engagement. In the Mediterranean Sea, shark aggregations are not as relevant to support locally-focused CS actions on shark diving sites as in other parts of the world. However, a series of other initiatives are taking place and CS could offer an excellent opportunity for shark conservation in the Mediterranean Sea. The dramatic decline of shark populations shown in the region calls for alternative ways to collect data on species distributions and abundance. Obtaining such data to set proper conservation and management plans for sharks in the Mediterranean Sea will be possible if existing CS initiatives collaborate and coordinate, and CS is widely acknowledged and deployed as a valuable tool for public education, engagement, and scientific discovery. After providing an overview of multiple facets of the relationship between humans and sharks, we focus on the possibility of exploiting new technologies and attitudes toward sharks among some groups of ocean users to boost participatory research. CS is a great opportunity for shark science, especially for areas such as the Mediterranean Sea and for large pelagic sharks whose populations are highly impacted.
... Actions such as the encouragement and re-direction of recreational shark fishing toward non-or less-lethal fishing (Cuevas, 2014) may change fishing habits from catch-and-kill to more conservationist approaches, as happened in the U.S. after the 1980s (Bonfil, 2002). On the other hand, the rise of activities such as beach-based trophy shark hunting in countries like the United States (Shiffman et al., 2017), even when nominally catch and release, is likely to put further pressure on elasmobranchs given poor post-release survivorship of species like hammerhead sharks . ...
Commercial fisheries catches by countries are documented since 1950 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Unfortunately, this does not hold for marine recreational catches, of which only few, if any, estimates are reported to FAO. We reconstructed preliminary estimates of likely marine recreational catches for 1950—2014, based on independent reconstructions for 125 countries. Our estimates of marine recreational catches that are retained and landed increased globally until the early-1980s, stabilized through the 1990s, and began increasing again thereafter, amounting to around 900,000 t·year−1 in 2014. Marine recreational catches thus account for slightly less than 1% of total global marine catches. Trends vary regionally, increasing in Asia, South America and Africa, while slightly decreasing in Europe and Oceania, and strongly decreasing in North America. The derived taxonomic composition indicates that recent catches were dominated by Sparidae (12% of total catches), followed by Scombridae (10%), Carangidae (6%), Gadidae (5%), and Sciaenidae (4%). The importance of Elasmobranchii (sharks and rays) in recreational fisheries in some regions is of concern, given the life-history traits of these taxa. Our preliminary catch reconstruction, despite high data uncertainty, should encourage efforts to improve national data reporting of recreational catches.
... Data mining on social media can play a useful role in science, being used to describe the social/human dimension of recreational fishing, as well as the harvesting patterns (e.g. Martin et al., 2014;Young et al., 2015;Shiffman et al., 2017;Adams et al., 2018;Monkman et al., 2018;Sbragaglia et al., 2019). Records of captures from images (photos and videos) posted on social media have proved to be an alternative or complementary approach to assess (i.e. ...
Recreational fishing is an important economic and social activity in many countries. However low- and middle-income nations often lack basic data, like catch recording, on this fishery. To gather data to better understand recreational spearfishing catch in Abrolhos Bank, we assessed images posted on Facebook between June 2014 and January 2015. We described species richness, individual fish body size, and trophic group, as well as conservation status and local retail value. A total of 217 images were analyzed, featuring the capture of 962 individuals from 25 species. Captures were composed mainly of the piscivores black grouper Mycteroperca bonaci (36%), dog snapper Lutjanus jocu (35%), and great barracuda Sphyraena barracuda (11%). Herbivores comprised 6% of catches, represented mainly by the endangered the greenback parrotfish Scarus trispinosus. Overall, half of the captured fish were below the first gonadal maturation size and 43% are currently on the national Red List of endangered species. The retail value of 97% of specimens captured was high or very high, composed mainly of species with individuals longer than 40 cm. Social media can provide a complementary data source for recreational fisheries research, offering a rich and dynamic snapshot of these fisheries.
... Information exchange is the most popular reason for people to join online communities (Ridings & Gefen 2006), and several examples from the recreational fisher community provide support for our hypothesis. Indeed, recreational fishers obtain in formation about responsible fishing on internet websites (Nguyen et al. 2012), have common perceptions as a result of online forum discussions (Shiffman et al. 2017) and partially discuss similar topics after publishing videos of their captures on YouTube . Future research should address whether such sources of information are effective in shaping the recreational fishers' perception of meridionalization. ...
Marine recreational fishers accumulate a vast amount of local ecological knowledge(LEK) during their fishing activity that can be of paramount importance for monitoring how climate change affects fish assemblages. We assessed LEK of recreational fishers to investigate the increase in the abundance of five northward expanding indigenous thermophilic fish species in two Mediterranean subregions. We accessed LEK through an online survey completed by 794 recreational fishers (386 from the Adriatic/Ionian subregion and 408 from the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian subregion). The species perceived to have increased most in abundance were Pomatomus saltatrix (71% of replies) followed by Sphyraena viridensis (58%). The rest of species (Sparisoma cretense, Balistes capriscus and Coryphaena hippurus) ranged between 17-25%. Recreational fishers have a stable system of beliefs about meridionalization, which is perceived homogeneously between recreational anglers and recreational spearfishers. Our results indicate that latitude is negatively correlated with meridionalization in the Adriatic/Ionian, meridionalization of the Adriatic/Ionian Seas could be a process that has temporally but not in the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas, suggesting that 11 lagged with respect to the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas. Our study demonstrates that LEK of recreational fishers can be easily accessed on large geographical scale and it can be useful to monitor changes in distribution of data-limited species such as the ones studied here.
... Depredation of captured fish by sharks is likely to have implications for maintaining ecosystem health, fisheries management, ensuring the social and economic value of fishing and shark welfare [67][68][69]. The loss or damage of fish through depredation comprises an additional source of mortality that could alter ecosystem structure, particularly if this is not explicitly incorporated in stock assessments [4,7,70]. ...
Shark encounters while fishing in Western Australian waters have been perceived to be increasing by some fishers in recent years. A lack of quantitative information remains a significant obstacle to determining the nature and magnitude of these encounters. A probability-based survey was implemented to assess the occurrence of and attitudes toward shark encounters by commercial fishers, charter tour operators and private boat-based recreational fishers during 2015/16. Of the 906 fishers interviewed, 52% indicated they had experienced at least one shark encounter while fishing during the previous year. The loss or damage of fish was involved in over half of these encounters while charter fishing and nearly a third while recreational fishing. The level of concern towards shark depredation was highest among charter tour operators statewide and all sectors in the Gascoyne bioregion. Multiple logistic regression analyses indicated fishing method and bioregion were the most important predictors of encounters. Depredation through fish loss below or at the surface was highest for pelagic or demersal line fishing in the North Coast and Gascoyne bioregions. Overwhelmingly, the majority of fishers in all sectors were satisfied with their fishing experience despite the occurrence of shark encounters. Future research on shark depredation would benefit from focusing on fishing methods and bioregions where depredation events were highest, with consideration of associated behavioural and environmental characteristics likely to influence depredation rates. The approach outlined here could easily be applied to other human-wildlife interaction studies where representative views of stakeholders are required for policy development and effective management.
... Monkman et al. (2018c) employed text and data mining on social media to provide information on the spatio-temporal scales of speciesspecific marine recreational fisheries. Shiffman et al. (2017) used posts by recreational anglers on online forums to assess shark conservation issues, such as illegal catches, and Martin et al. (2014) showed that the activity on an online recreational fishing social network was related to the spatial distribution of fishing effort. These examples show that data mining of social media can provide relevant insights into the patterns and dynamics of selected recreational fisheries. ...
We applied data mining on YouTube videos to better understand recreational fisheries targeting common dentex (Dentex dentex), an iconic species of Mediterranean fisheries. In Italy alone, from 2010 to 2016 spearfishers posted 1051 videos compared to 692 videos posted by anglers. The upload pattern of spearfishing videos followed a seasonal pattern with peaks in July, a trend not found for anglers. The average mass of the fish declared in angling videos (6.4 kg) was significantly larger than the one in spearfishing videos (4.5 kg). Videos posted by spear-fishers received significantly more likes and comments than those posted by anglers. Content analysis suggested that the differences in engagement can be related to appreciation of successful spearfishers necessitating relevant personal qualities for catching D. dentex. We also found that the mass of the fish positively predicted social engagement as well as the degree of positive evaluation only in spearfishing videos. This could be caused by the generally smaller odds of catching large D. dentex by spearfishing. Our case study demonstrates that data mining on YouTube can be a powerful tool to provide complementary data on controversial and data-poor aspects of recreational fisheries and contribute to understanding the social dimensions of recreational fishers.
... Information exchange is the most popular reason for people to join online communities (Ridings & Gefen 2006), and several examples from the recreational fisher community provide support for our hypothesis. Indeed, recreational fishers obtain in formation about responsible fishing on internet websites (Nguyen et al. 2012), have common perceptions as a result of online forum discussions (Shiffman et al. 2017) and partially discuss similar topics after publishing videos of their captures on YouTube . Future research should address whether such sources of information are effective in shaping the recreational fishers' perception of meridionalization. ...
Marine recreational fishers accumulate a vast amount of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) during their fishing activity that can be of paramount importance for monitoring how climate change affects the structure of biological communities. Here, we accessed the LEK of recreational anglers and recreational spearfishers to investigate the increase in the abundance of five northward expanding indigenous thermophilic fish species in two subregions of the Mediterranean Sea: the Adriatic/Ionian Seas and the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas. We used an online survey administered through Twitter and Facebook between 2017 and 2018 to both Italian and Croatian recreational fishers. A total of 794 respondents completed the questionnaire (386 from the Adriatic/Ionian subregion and 408 from the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian one). Overall, the species perceived as most increasing in abundance were Pomatomus saltatrix (71% of replies) followed by Sphyraena viridensis (58%). The rest of species (Coryphaena hippurus, Balistes capriscus and Sparisoma cretense) ranged between 17% and 25%. We showed that recreational fishers have a stable system of beliefs about meridionalization, which is perceived homogeneously between recreational anglers and spearfishers. Moreover, our results indicate that latitude is negatively correlated with meridionalization in the Adriatic/Ionian, but not in the Thyrrenian/Ligurian Seas, suggesting that meridionalization of the Adriatic/Ionian Seas could be a process that is temporally lagged with respect to the Tyrrhenian/Ligurian Seas. Our study demonstrate that LEK of specific target groups such as recreational fishers can be easily accessed on large geographical scale and it can be useful to identify those fish species who are regarded as indicators of climate change.
... Our data suggest that hammerhead sharks may be particularly susceptible to thermal effects when larger individuals are removed from the water during warmer days. This is relevant since this species is often the target of land-based fishing activities, where animals are dragged on land, particularly during summer fishing tournaments (Shiffman et al., 2017). The high rates of body surface warming found for hammerheads, and the potential physiological consequences, could contribute, at least in part, to the high rates of at-vessel and post-release mortality known for this species (Gallagher et al. 2014 a,b,c). ...
Body temperature is a crucial component of thermoregulation, being strongly linked to variables such as energy flow, metabolic rates, activity patterns and resilience. With exception of lamnid sharks, elasmobranchs are classified as ectothermic, depending on ambient temperature for heat modulation. Despite often being removed from the water during fisheries interactions, the known effects of air exposure on sharks are limited to the hypoxia experienced. Comparatively little is known about the potential effects of changing ambient temperatures and solar radiation experienced by sharks during air exposure, and if such scenarios may compromise their thermal dynamics and survival. Here we used infrared thermography (IRT) to measure external body temperature of 10 different shark species (N = 62), ranging in size from 106 to 340 cm total length, experimentally exposed to air. We tested the hypothesis that all individuals would exhibit body surface temperature increases when air-exposed, with temperature uniformly distributed across the body surface regardless of species. Our results did not support this hypothesis. Although ectothermic, sharks exhibited significant species-specific variations in heat distribution and warming along the body surface. Moreover, these thermal patterns were significantly impacted by both environmental factors (water temperature at capture) as well as biological traits (shark size and body region). Multivariate analyses separated the 10-shark species into five groups according to the influences of shark body size, body region and water temperature on variations in the thermal profiles detected. We discuss the potential physiological, ecological and conservation implications of these findings.
... Monkman et al. (2018c) employed text and data mining on social media to provide information on the spatio-temporal scales of speciesspecific marine recreational fisheries. Shiffman et al. (2017) used posts by recreational anglers on online forums to assess shark conservation issues, such as illegal catches, and Martin et al. (2014) showed that the activity on an online recreational fishing social network was related to the spatial distribution of fishing effort. These examples show that data mining of social media can provide relevant insights into the patterns and dynamics of selected recreational fisheries. ...
Data about recreational fisheries are scarce in many areas of the world. In the absence of monitoring data collected in situ, alternative data sources, such as digital applications and social media platforms, have the potential to produce valuable insights. Yet, the potential of social media for drawing insights about recreational fisheries is still underexplored. In this study, we applied data mining on YouTube videos to better understand recreational fisheries targeting common dentex (Dentex dentex), an iconic species of Mediterranean recreational fisheries. We chose this model species because of ongoing controversies about the relative impact of recreational angling and recreational spearfishing on its conservation status. In Italy alone, from 2010 to 2016 recreational spearfishers posted 1051 videos compared to 692 videos posted by recreational anglers. Only the upload pattern of spearfishing videos followed a seasonal pattern with peaks in July, suggesting seasonality of spearfishing catches of D. dentex – a trend not found for anglers. The average mass of the fish declared in recreational angling videos (6.43 kg) was significantly larger than the one in spearfishing videos (4.50 kg). Videos posted by recreational spearfishers received significantly more likes and comments than those posted by recreational anglers, suggesting that the social engagement among recreational spearfishers was stronger than in anglers. We also found that the mass of the fish positively predicted social engagement in recreational spearfishing videos, but not in videos posted by recreational anglers. This could be caused by the generally smaller odds of catching large D. dentex by spearfishing, possibly explaining why posting videos with particularly large specimen triggered larger social engagement by recreational spearfishers. Our case study demonstrates that data mining on YouTube can be a powerful tool to provide complementary data on controversial and data-poor aspects of recreational fisheries.
... There is increasing interest in using social media data for ecological monitoring and surveillance (Galaz et al., 2010;Daume et al., 2014), to improve understanding of participants' practices and behaviour (Martin et al., 2012;Richards and Friess, 2015;Belhabib et al., 2016;Hinsley et al., 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017) and the magnitude of participatory activity (Wood et al., 2013;Martin et al., 2014). Researchers tend to mine data from social networking sites (e.g. ...
... Examining online sales has proven useful in assessing trade in organisms (Kay and Hoyle, 2001;Magalhães and Jacobi, 2010;Magalhães and São-Pedro, 2012;Humair et al., 2015;Mazza et al., 2015), and the risks posed by pet ownership (Kikillus et al., 2012). Furthermore, people will sometimes disclose illegal activities in online forums (Magalhães and São-Pedro, 2012;Huffer and Chappell, 2014;El Bizri et al., 2015;Shiffman et al., 2017). Further advantages include that examining online sales uses publicly available information, so does not require approval for research with human subjects; it requires less effort in collecting data; the data can be quantitative, rather than broad and loosely defined categories of availability such as "very common" or "rare" (e.g. ...
The pet trade is a significant source of introductions of non-indigenous aquatic species, such as crayfish. To test whether legislation that regulates the ownership of ornamental animals for aquariums had the desired effect of reducing the availability of those pets, classified advertising websites were monitored for sales of crayfish in jurisdictions with and without legislation regulating the ownership of crayfish. Advertisements from Canadian provinces with legislation against owning crayfish were compared to provinces without such legislation. The population adjusted number of advertisements for crayfish, and number of distinct sellers of crayfish, was significantly lower in one of two provinces that prohibited crayfish compared to provinces that permitted crayfish. This mixed outcome suggests that legislation alone does not consistently reduce online trade in crayfish.
... Many countries have had little or no catch recording, no registration or licensing schemes for some marine recreational fishing sectors, and no regular national directed surveys. Recreational fishing can have a meaningful impact on fisheries and associated ecosystems (McPhee et al., 2002;Cooke and Cowx, 2004;Lewin et al., 2006) therefore researchers have sought to exploit novel data sources, including club records (Bennett et al., 1994;Gartside et al., 1999), recreational fisher magazines (Richardson et al., 2006;Barbini et al., 2015), social media (Martin et al., 2012(Martin et al., , 2014Belhabib et al., 2016;Shiffman et al., 2017), and smartphone applications (review Venturelli et al., 2017) to better describe data limited fisheries. There is now an increasing adoption of social media as a data resource for ecological research (e.g. ...
The use of social media data is becoming increasingly widespread in ecological research and this trend is expected to continue as social media use increases globally. Fishers share details of their activity online and scientists have mined this content to help understand fisher activity, yet little information exists on the ethics of exploiting social media for fisheries research. In this paper, the ethics of using social media published data in fisheries research is discussed in the context of affected stakeholders and potential causes of maleficience. The legal position with respect to copyright and fair use is summarized in relation to the use of fisher data published on the internet for research. It is argued that research per se does not sensu stricto involve human subjects where no new content is solicited from participants. Text and data mining of social media for research purposes generally receives special dispensation in law to allow scientific endeavor to be conducted without fear of prosecution. Nevertheless, researchers have a professional duty to weigh research benefits against the risk of causing harm to involved agents, including website owners. Ultimately researchers should continually reassess the ethics of their social media research as guidance from ethical review boards currently may be limited and all internet content scraping activity should be conducted responsibly such that personal data is not compromised.
California recreational anglers have recently started using specific deep-drop tackle to target swordfish (Xiphius gladius) below the thermocline during the daytime. Increased rod-and-reel fishing effort stems from promising experimental fishing trials of a recently approved commercial gear type off California (deep-set buoy gear), along with the widespread growth of deep-drop recreational fisheries for swordfish around the world. The rapid development and vast growth potential in this emerging recreational fishery, has outpaced the implementation of sampling programs to accurately quantify swordfish catch, effort, and economic output. We characterized recent sportfishing practices for swordfish and reviewed available California recreational fishery data sources. Findings suggest a sharp increase in estimated catch relative to previous decades and a major shift in the techniques used by local fishers to target swordfish beginning in September 2019. Recent increases in recreational swordfish catches aligned directly with heightened tackle sales for gear specific to deep-drop practices. Given the increased deep-set effort for swordfish within the region and the limited coverage of existing private-vessel catch documentation, additional monitoring efforts are needed to better gauge the potential social, economic, and ecological impacts of this emerging recreational fishery.
We demonstrate how irresponsible use of social media by users not only compromises them personally, but also contributes to the dissemination of irresponsible behaviors towards environmental conservation and compliance with fishing regulations. In this context, self-regulation by fishing clubs could play a preventive role. From our discussion, we advocate the idea that fishermen are not only dealing with fish but with a public good.
Shark depredation, the full or partial removal of a hooked fish by a shark before it is landed, is anecdotally increasing in the United States. Perceptions of depredation by anglers and fishing guides may influence their behavior and have cascading effects on sharks and recreational fisheries. However, to date, these perceptions have not been broadly quantified. To better understand how anglers and guides respond to shark depredation in recreational fisheries, we used an online survey open to saltwater anglers in North America, distributed electronically via social media and online platforms. Of the 541 respondents, 77% had experienced depredation in nearshore and pelagic fisheries in the last five years, with depredation more commonly reported in the southeastern United States. Emotional responses to depredation were significantly different between anglers and guides, with the latter feeling more intense negative emotions. Behavioral changes in response to depredation, such as targeting and harvesting sharks, were driven largely by negative emotional responses and perceptions of sharks as threats to target species, while changes to protect target species varied with positive emotional responses and angler demographics. Guides were predominantly concerned about increased mortality to their target species and loss of trophy fish from the population. In fact, 87% of guides experienced depredation when fishing with clients and overwhelmingly reported that depredation has a negative effect on their livelihood. Overall, these results can be used to help inform strategies to reduce depredation while accounting for the values of stakeholder groups, particularly anglers and those advocating for shark conservation.
Sharks are a taxon of significant conservation concern and associated public interest. The scientific community largely supports management policies focusing on sustainable fisheries exploitation of sharks, but many concerned members of the public and some environmental advocates believe that sustainable shark fisheries cannot and do not exist and therefore support total bans on all shark fisheries and/or trade in shark products. The belief that sustainable shark fisheries cannot and do not exist persists despite scientific evidence showing that they can and do, and are important to livelihoods. Additionally, many concerned members of the public are only aware of one threat to sharks and are unaware of other threats—or of most available policy solutions. Here we assess whether the popular press plays a role in spreading misinformation and misunderstanding about these issues via the agenda-setting, priming, and cultivation roles of the media, with the goal of better understanding the causes and consequences of public confusion.
Pelagic fisheries extend across all basins of the world's oceans, exploiting a range of species from forage fish to apex predators. This article begins with a review of the common large pelagic species targeted by open ocean fisheries including tuna, billfish, and sharks. The common fishing gears used by commercial and recreational pelagic fisheries are then summarized. The history of exploitation and recent catch estimates are explained for commonly targeted large pelagic species, along with a review of how large pelagic species are utilized after capture. Finally, emerging issues and management attempts are brought to light, in hope of conserving sustainable pelagic fish populations in future years.
Fish physiology is significantly affected by temperature variability. During fisheries interactions, fish are often exposed to air and subjected to rapid temperature changes. Fish thermal dynamics during such exposure, and the possible outcomes to their physiology, depend on how heat is distributed across their bodies, the speed at which their body temperatures change, and the size of the individual. Nevertheless, such thermal patterns remain unknown for sharks. This study employed a novel application of thermal imaging to evaluate external body temperature profiles of blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) abovewater exposure after capture. Wefound that above-water exposure duration, shark total length, and air temperature on the day of capture significantly influenced body surface temperatures of the analyzed sharks (N = 28). Body surface temperature significantly increased with increasing exposure; however, thermal profiles of immature sharks (<140 cm) were significantly warmer than those of mature sharks. Moreover, blacktip surface body temperatures were significantly higher during days when air temperatures were at least 2.5°C warmer than water temperatures. We discuss these results as they relate to the ecology of blacktip sharks and their potential vulnerability to fisheries capture due to such changes in peripheral body temperature.
Although current assessments of shark population trends involve both fishery-independent and fishery-dependent data, the latter are generally limited to commercial landings that may neglect nearshore coastal habitats. Texas has supported the longest organized land-based recreational shark fishery in the United States, yet no studies have used this “non-traditional” data source to characterize the catch composition or trends in this multidecadal fishery. We analyzed catch records from two distinct periods straddling heavy commercial exploitation of sharks in the Gulf of Mexico (historical period = 1973–1986; modern period = 2008–2015) to highlight and make available the current status and historical trends in Texas’ land-based shark fishery. Catch records describing large coastal species (>1,800 mm stretched total length [STL]) were examined using multivariate techniques to assess catch seasonality and potential temporal shifts in species composition. These fishery-dependent data revealed consistent seasonality that was independent of the data set examined, although distinct shark assemblages were evident between the two periods. Similarity percentage analysis suggested decreased contributions of Lemon Shark Negaprion brevirostris over time and a general shift toward the dominance of Bull Shark Carcharhinus leucas and Blacktip Shark C. limbatus. Comparisons of mean STL for species captured in historical and modern periods further identified significant decreases for both Bull Sharks and Lemon Sharks. Size structure analysis showed a distinct paucity of landed individuals over 2,000 mm STL in recent years. Although inherent biases in reporting and potential gear-related inconsistencies undoubtedly influenced this fishery-dependent data set, the patterns in our findings documented potential declines in the size and occurrence of select large coastal shark species off Texas, consistent with declines reported in the Gulf of Mexico. Future management efforts should consider the use of non-traditional fishery-dependent data sources, such as land-based records, as data streams in stock assessments.
Received January 8, 2016; accepted August 17, 2016
With the increasing popularity of recreational angling around the world, there is a need to better understand the potential contribution of recreational fishing to reported shark population declines. However, the nature and perception of shark encounters - a fundamental precursor to future research, management and conservation measures aimed to increase shark survival - is not well documented in recreational fisheries. Five hundred and ninety recreational saltwater anglers responded to the survey and reported their experiences targeting or incidentally catching sharks, as well as their attitudes toward sharks, shark fishing techniques, and shark conservation and management. The survey found sharks were caught regularly, with 57% of respondents commonly targeting sharks and 93% of respondents having caught a shark at least once. Eighty-eight percent of the respondents released the last shark that they caught and most respondents often or always practised catch-and-release when catching sharks. The survey revealed that avid anglers have positive attitudes toward sharks and shark conservation and have a desire to handle and release sharks in ways that will increase their likelihood of survival. However, the survey also revealed that there are a variety of situational factors (e.g. target fish, fishing platform) that influence the choices that anglers make while fishing, which may influence adherence to catch-and-release methods. Based on their positive attitudes toward sharks, recreational anglers may be strong allies for the development, dissemination, and adoption of species and situational-specific best practice catch-and-release guidelines for this group of fishes within the wider recreational saltwater angling community.
The impacts of unregulated sport hunting can severely affect populations of target game species. Because hunting in Brazil is limited by law, obtaining data on illegal sport hunting in this country is challenging. We used an unusual online resource, YouTube™, to detect the occurrence of sport hunting in Brazil, measure the impacts of the activity on the main Brazilian game species and biomes, evaluate the opinions of hunters and internet users on sport hunting, and discuss the need for policy interventions in wildlife conservation in this country. We found 383 videos related to Brazilian sport hunting on YouTube™, accounting for more than 15 million views. Most videos were produced in the Cerrado (Brazilian savannah) and approximately 70% of them depicted events of pursuit and killing of wild animals, especially lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca) and armadillos (Family Dasypodidae). Videos were posted primarily in July and December, coinciding with the two main Brazilian vacation periods. Furthermore, the shotguns identified on videos show that sport hunters expend large sums of money to undertake their hunts. These results indicate that Brazilian sport hunters are possibly wealthier urban residents who travel to rural areas to hunt, contrasting with previous hunting studies in the country. Most viewers declared themselves in favor of sport hunting in comments (n = 2893) and ratings (n = 36,570) of the videos. Discussions generated by comments suggest that Brazilian sport hunters employ several informal management strategies to maintain game species stocks for future hunting and intensely question the restrictions of Brazilian environmental policies. Our results demonstrate that solutions are needed for the regulation of sport hunting in Brazil. Government actions, whether to increase surveillance or legalize hunting programs, should take into account the opinions of sport hunters and their perceptions on hunting dynamics to support effective policy decisions on wildlife conservation in Brazil.
As the Internet begins to encapsulate more people within online communities, it is important that the social researcher have well-rounded ethnographic methodologies for observing these phenomena. This article seeks to contribute to methodology by detailing and providing insights into three specific facets of virtual ethnography that need attention: space and time, identity and authenticity, and ethics. Because the Internet is a globalized and instantaneous medium where space and time collapse, identity becomes more playful, and ethics become more tenuous; understanding these aspects is crucial to the study of online social groups. A second focus of this article is to apply these notions to the study of online message boards-a frequently used medium for online communication that is frequently overlooked by methodologists.
Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) which were air exposed for 60 s after exhaustive exercise initially had a much larger extracellular acidosis than trout which were only exercised. In both groups, however, plasma pH returned to normal by 4 h. Blood lactate concentrations were also greater in the air-exposed fish and continued to increase throughout the experiment. During air exposure, there was retention of carbon dioxide in the blood, and oxygen tension (Po2) and hemoglobin:oxygen carriage (Hb:O2) both fell by over 80%. After 30 min of recovery, however, blood gases resembled those in fish which were only exercised. Finally, survival after 12 h was 10% in control fish and 88% in the exercised fish but fell to 62 and 28% in fish which were air exposed for 30 and 60 s, respectively, after exercise. These results indicate that the brief period of air exposure which occurs in many "catch and release" fisheries is a significant additional stress which may ultimately influence whether a released fish survives.
Visitor perceptions of the impacts of cetacean-based tourism from land-based and boat-based platforms are not well understood. Data from on-site surveys (n=633) and observational data were obtained at boat and land-based whale viewing platforms in the San Juan Islands, USA during the summer of 2000. Whale watchers at both platforms expressed concerns regarding adverse impacts on whales due to whale watching activities. Land-based whale watchers, however, were significantly more concerned about the presence of boats disturbing not only the whales, but also their own experiences. In particular, the noise and maneuvering of whale-watching boats were identified as issues of concern. The findings suggest that site-specific strategies for managing whale watching are necessary. Possible strategies include limiting the number of boats and the frequency and duration of boat interactions with whales. Furthermore, platform-specific visitor education programs may be useful for helping to address viewers’ concerns.
Reducing shark bycatch and depredation (i.e., damage caused by sharks to gear, bait, and desired fish species) in pelagic longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish is a priority. Electropositive metals (i.e., a mixture of the lanthanide elements lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and praseodymium) have been shown to deter spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias, primarily a coastal species) from attacking bait, presumably because of interactions with the electroreceptive system of this shark. We undertook to determine the possible effectiveness of electropositive metals for reducing the interactions of pelagic sharks with longline gear, using sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus, family Carcharhinidae) as a model species. The presence of electropositive metal deterred feeding in groups of juvenile sandbar sharks and altered the swimming patterns of individuals in the absence of food motivation (these individuals generally avoided approaching electropositive metal closer than ~ 100 cm). The former effect was relatively short-lived however; primarily (we assume) because competition with other individuals increased feeding motivation. In field trials with bottom longline gear, electropositive metal placed within ̃ 10 cm of the hooks reduced the catch of sandbar sharks by approximately two thirds, compared to the catch on hooks in the proximity of plastic pieces of similar dimensions. Electropositive metals therefore appear to have the potential to reduce shark interactions in pelagic longline fisheries, although the optimal mass, shape, composition, and distance to baited hooks remain to be determined.
This paper examines three recent television advertisements that symbolically link meat not only with masculinity, but specifically with the "crisis in masculinity.'' Using an ecofeminist lens, I engage in an intersectional analysis of these advertisements to demonstrate how they articulate the eating of meat with primitive masculinities as a response to perceived threats to hegemonic masculinity. These advertisements demonstrate that scholars interested in the status of masculinity must pay attention to the "threats'' to masculinity posed by environmental and animal rights movements, and that scholars interested in environmental movements must pay attention to the role of masculinity in resisting moves toward sustainability. This analysis demonstrates the utility of ecofeminism in understanding the relationship between hegemonic masculinity and environmentalism while also pointing to the need for ecofeminism to continue to explore the implications of intersectionality for ecofeminist theory and criticism.
A mail survey of tournament shark anglers and party boat shark anglers was completed to examine their fishing activity, attitudes, trip expenditures, and consumer surplus. A sample of 700 shark anglers was selected from tournaments in the Gulf of Mexico during 1990, and a sample of party boat shark anglers was drawn from Port Arkansas, TX, party boat anglers during the summer of 1991. Shark trip expenditures averaged $197 per trip with a consumer surplus of $111 per trip. Based on MRFSS estimates of the number of shark fishing trips, we estimate a total of $43 355 000 was spent by shark anglers in the Gulf of Mexico with a consumer surplus of $32 865 000 for a total gross value of the shark fishery of $66 220 000. MRFSS estimates of the number of sharks landed indicate an equivalent use value of $183 per shark. -from Authors
Numerous theoretical frameworks have been developed to explain the gap between the possession of environmental knowledge and environmental awareness, and displaying pro-environmental behavior. Although many hundreds of studies have been undertaken, no definitive explanation has yet been found. Our article describes a few of the most influential and commonly used analytical frameworks: early US linear progression models; altruism, empathy and prosocial behavior models; and finally, sociological models. All of the models we discuss (and many of the ones we do not such as economic models, psychological models that look at behavior in general, social marketing models and that have become known as deliberative and inclusionary processes or procedures (DIPS)) have some validity in certain circumstances. This indicates that the question of what shapes pro-environmental behavior is such a complex one that it cannot be visualized through one single framework or diagram. We then analyze the factors that have been found to have some influence, positive or negative, on pro-environmental behavior such as demographic factors, external factors (e.g. institutional, economic, social and cultural) and internal factors (e.g. motivation, pro-environmental knowledge, awareness, values, attitudes, emotion, locus of control, responsibilities and priorities). Although we point out that developing a model that tries to incorporate all factors might neither be feasible nor useful, we feel that it can help illuminate this complex field. Accordingly, we propose our own model based on the work of Fliegenschnee and Schelakovsky (1998) who were influenced by Fietkau and Kessel (1981).
Merging theory with autoethnographic reflections, the author critically explores the relationship between social class and the reproduction of inequality within the upper ranks of the academy, while reflexively and purposefully challenging traditional modes of academic discourse. Drawing from the author's experiences as a blue-collar sociology doctoral student, the concept of an academic class ceiling is elaborated. In an attempt to link everyday practices within a larger structural framework, the author advances a theory of professorial capital derived from Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital. This article argues that unless the everyday dynamics of class exclusion are explicitly problematized, institutions will continue to implicitly reproduce the culture of the elite, and working-class voices will remain marginalized and silent.
1.309 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park recreational fishers were surveyed to examine recreational catch and harvest of elasmobranchs and to explore recreational fishers' handling behaviour and attitudes.2.Elasmobranchs represented 6% of fishers' total catch of all fish (including released individuals), and 0.8% of fishers' total harvest (i.e. retained individuals) across all survey days. The majority of elasmobranchs caught by fishers were released, primarily because they were perceived as being inedible.3.Recreational fishers' self-reported handling and release behaviour for elasmobranchs is largely consistent with ‘best practice’ guidelines except that fishers had low use of circle hooks and barbless hooks, and a significant proportion (33%) reported using stainless steel hooks.4.Most fishers had positive attitudes towards elasmobranchs, placing high importance on releasing sharks and rays in good condition (86%), high value on their existence (84%), and low value on catching them (63%).5.Results indicate that post-release mortality is probably the largest source of recreational fishing mortality of elasmobranchs in the Great Barrier Reef. Future research should be targeted at obtaining better estimates of species-specific post-release mortality levels, understanding how post-release survival can be increased by changing fishing techniques or fisher behaviour, and developing more effective methods of engaging fishers in elasmobranch conservation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
We conducted a series of experiments to assess the real-time physiological and behavioral responses of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides and smallmouth bass M. dolomieu to different angling related stressors and then monitored their recovery using both cardiac output devices and locomotory activity telemetry. We also review our current understanding of the effects of catch-and-release angling on black bass and provide direction for future research. Collectively our data suggest that all angling elicits a stress response, however, the magnitude of this response is determined by the degree of exhaustion and varies with water temperature. Our results also suggest that air exposure, especially following exhaustive exercise, places an additional stress on fish that increases the time needed for recovery and likely the probability of death. Simulated tournament conditions revealed that metabolic rates of captured fish increase with live-well densities greater than one individual, placing a greater demand on live-well oxygen conditions. The repeated handling of fish during tournament angling, including culling, the addition of fish or other live-well disturbances, and the final tournament weigh-in, which adds an additional several minutes of air exposure, further adds to already heightened stress levels. When these cumulative stressors do not result in death, the resultant energetic disruptions clearly have negative impacts not only on the short term health and condition of the fish, but also most likely on its biological fitness, i.e., its lifetime reproductive success. We also show that following angling, nest-guarding male bass face a reduction in their locomotory activity that may reduce their ability to successfully defend the nest. Although most concerns about catch-and-release angling occur at the population and community level, our assessment of various angling, handling and retention practices identifies ways to minimize the effects of angling upon individual fish, and to ensure that these effects do not manifest themselves as problems at the population level.
Outdoor recreation has the potential to disturb wildlife, resulting in energetic costs, impacts to animals' behavior and fitness, and avoidance of otherwise suitable habitat. Mountain biking is emerging as a popular form of outdoor recreation, yet virtually nothing is known about whether wildlife responds differently to mountain biking vs. more traditional forms of recreation, such as hiking. In addition, there is a lack of information on the ''area of influence'' (within which wildlife may be displaced from otherwise suitable habitat due to human activities) of different forms of recreation. We examined the responses of bison (Bison bison), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), and pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) to hikers and mountain bikers at Antelope Island State Park, Utah, by comparing alert distance, flight distance, and distance moved. Within a species, wildlife did not respond differently to mountain biking vs. hiking, but there was a negative relationship between wildlife body size and response. We determined the area of influence along trails and off-trail transects by examining each species' probability of flushing as perpendicular distance away from a trail increased. All three species exhibited a 70% probability of flushing from on-trail recreationists within 100 m from trails. Mule deer showed a 96% probability of flushing within 100 m of recreationists located off trails; their probability of flushing did not drop to 70% until perpendicular distance reached 390 m. We calculated the area around existing trails on Antelope Island that may be impacted by recreationists on those trails. Based on a 200-m ''area of influence,'' 8.0 km (7%) of the island was potentially unsuitable for wildlife due to disturbance from recreation. Few studies have examined how recreationists perceive their effects on wildlife, although this has implications for their behavior on public lands. We surveyed 640 backcountry trail users on Antelope Island to investigate their perceptions of the effects of recreation on wildlife. Approximately 50% of recreationists felt that recreation was not having a negative effect on wildlife. In general, survey respondents perceived that it was acceptable to ap-proach wildlife more closely than our empirical data indicated wildlife would allow. Recrea-tionists also tended to blame other user groups for stress to wildlife rather than holding themselves responsible. The results of both the biological and human-dimensions aspects of our research have implications for the management of public lands where the continued coexistence of wildlife and recreation is a primary goal. Understanding wildlife responses to recreation and the ''area of influence'' of human activities may help managers judge whether wildlife pop-ulations are experiencing stress due to interactions with humans, and may aid in tailoring recreation plans to minimize long-term effects to wildlife from disturbance. Knowledge of recreationists' perceptions and beliefs regarding their effects on wildlife may also assist public lands managers in encouraging positive visitor behaviors around wildlife.
Local communities are important stakeholders in resource management and conservation efforts, particularly in the developing world. Although evidence is mixed in suggesting that these resident stakeholders are optimal forest stewards, it is highly unlikely that large tracts of tropical forests will be conserved without engaging local people who depend on them daily for their livelihoods. Stakeholders, who reside in biodiverse ecosystems like tropical forests, are the largest direct users and ultimate decision-makers of forest fate, can be important investors in conservation, harbor local ecological knowledge that complements Western science and frequently have long-term legitimate claims on lands where they reside. Research partnerships with local stakeholders can increase research relevance, enhance knowledge exchange and result in greater conservation success. Different phases of the research cycle present distinct opportunities for partnership, with flexibility in timing, approaches and strategies depending on researcher and local stakeholder needs and interests. Despite being the last step in the research process, dissemination of results can be the best starting point for researchers interested in experimenting with local stakeholder engagement. Still, tropical biologists might not choose to partner with local people because of lack of institutional rewards, insufficient training in stakeholder engagement, insecure research infrastructure in community settings, and time and funding limitations. Although not appropriate in all cases and despite significant challenges, some biological scientists and research institutions have successfully engaged local stakeholders in the research process, proving mutually beneficial for investigators and local people alike and resulting in important innovations in tropical biology and conservation.
Catch-and-release recreational angling has become very popular as a conservation strategy and as a fisheries management tool for a diverse array of fishes. Implicit in catch-and-release angling strategies is the assumption that fish experience low mortality and minimal sub-lethal effects. Despite the importance of this premise, research on this topic has focused on several popular North American sportfish, with negligible efforts directed towards understanding catch-and-release angling effects on alternative fish species. Here, we summarise the existing literature to develop five general trends that could be adopted for species for which no data are currently available: (1) minimise angling duration, (2) minimise air exposure, (3) avoid angling during extremes in water temperature, (4) use barbless hooks and artificial lures/flies, and (5) refrain from angling fish during the reproductive period. These generalities provide some level of protection to all species, but do have limitations. Therefore, we argue that a goal of conservation science and fisheries management should be the creation of species-specific guidelines for catch-and-release. These guidelines would take into account the inter-specific diversity of fishes and variation in fishing techniques. As recreational angling continues to grow in popularity, expanding to many developing countries, and targeting alternative species, it is important that reasonable data appropriate for specific fish and fisheries are available. The sustainable use and conservation of recreational fishery resources will depend upon the development and dissemination of effective catch-and-release angling strategies based upon sound science to stakeholders around the world.
Environmental quality strongly depends on human behaviour patterns. We review the contribution and the potential of environmental psychology for understanding and promoting pro-environmental behaviour. A general framework is proposed, comprising: (1) identification of the behaviour to be changed, (2) examination of the main factors underlying this behaviour, (3) design and application of interventions to change behaviour to reduce environmental impact, and (4) evaluation of the effects of interventions. We discuss how environmental psychologists empirically studied these four topics, identify apparent shortcomings so far, and indicate major issues for future research.
The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) developed a zoning plan as part of its overall management plan, fully implemented as of 1997. The plan created several closed areas or harvest refugia in which consumptive activities are prohibited. This research reports results of surveys that we conducted with members of three stakeholder groups in the Florida Keys: commercial fishers, dive operators, and members of local environmental groups. Surveys requested responses regarding the information sources individuals tapped when learning of the zoning plan and the FKNMS; their degree of public participation; their perceptions and acceptance of the zoning strategy and the process of its design; and the expected outcomes of the zoning strategy. Many responses show significant differences among the three groups. Fishers felt highly alienated from the process of zone designation and displayed a sense of anger and powerlessness with respect to what they considered to be an attempt to exclude their group from the harvest refugia. Dive operators demonstrated the highest levels of participation in the designation process, but were concerned that refugia regulations could limit their activities in the future. Members of environmental groups were the strongest supporters of the harvest refugia concept and the FKNMS. This research suggests numerous ways in which marine resource managers could improve their public outreach and information dissemination strategies when developing future harvest refugia and marine protected areas.
Understanding the attraction of virtual communities is crucial to organizations that want to tap into their enormous information potential. Existing literature theorizes that people join virtual communities to exchange information and/or social support. Theories of broader Internet use have indicated both entertainment and searching for friendship as motivational forces. This exploratory study empirically examines the importance of these reasons in assessing why people come to virtual communities by directly asking virtual community members why they joined.The responses to the open-ended question “Why did you join?” were categorized based upon the reasons suggested in the literature. Across 27 communities in 5 different broad types, 569 different reasons from 399 people indicated that most sought either friendship or exchange of information, and a markedly lower percent sought social support or recreation. The reasons were significantly dependent on the grouping of the communities into types. In all the community types information exchange was the most popular reason for joining. Thereafter, however, the reason varied depending on community type. Social support was the second most popular reason for members in communities with health/wellness and professional/occupational topics, but friendship was the second most popular reason among members in communities dealing with personal interests/hobbies, pets, or recreation. These findings suggest that virtual community managers should emphasize not only the content but also encourage the friendship and social support aspects as well if they wish to increase the success of their virtual community.
This article explores how environmental regulation may be improved through the use of community-based social marketing techniques. While regulation is an important tool of sustainability policy, it works upon a limited range of behavioural ‘triggers’. It focuses upon fear of penalty or desires for compliance, but individual behaviour is also affected by beliefs and values, and by perceived opportunities for greater satisfaction. It is argued that more effective environmental laws may be achieved using strategies that integrate regulation with community-based social marketing. Case studies where community-based social marketing techniques have been successfully used are examined, and methods for employing community-based social marketing tools to support environmental regulation are proposed.
For centuries, the primary manner in which humans have interacted with sharks has been fishing. A combination of their slow-growing nature and high use-values have resulted in population declines for many species around the world, and to date the vast majority of fisheries-related work on sharks has focused on the commercial sector. Shark recreational fishing remains an overlooked area of research despite the fact that these practices are popular globally and could present challenges to their populations. Here we provide a topical overview of shark recreational fisheries, highlighting their history and current status. While recreational fishing can provide conservation benefits under certain circumstances, we focus our discourse on the relatively understudied, potentially detrimental impacts these activities may have on shark physiology, behavior, and fitness. We took this angle given the realized but potentially underestimated significance of recreational fishing for shark conservation management plans and stock assessments, in hopes of creating a dialogue around sustainability. We also present a series of broad and focused research questions and underpin areas of future research need to assist with the development of this emergent area of research.
New social media have become indispensable to people all over the world as platforms for communication, with Facebook being the most popular. Hence, platforms such as Facebook are also becoming crucial tools for ethnographers because much social life now exists ‘online’. What types of field relations stem from such social media-driven ethnography? And what kinds of data do these relations present to the ethnographer? These questions must be considered in order to understand the challenges Facebook and other social media pose to ethnographic methodology. This article focuses on how Facebook may play an important role even in ethnographic work concerned with questions other than how Facebook works as a social medium. Most importantly it allows the ethnographer to keep up-to-date with the field. I argue that ethnography is already in possession of the methodological tools critically to assess the validity and value of data gathered or produced via Facebook including issues such as authenticity which are also pertinent to digital ethnography. © 2016 Discipline of Anthropology and Sociology, The University of Western Australia.
Ultrasonic telemetry was used to compare post-release survival and movements of Atlantic sharpnose sharks Rhizoprionodon terraenovae in a coastal area of the north-east Gulf of Mexico. Ten fish were caught with standardized hook-and-line gear during June to October 1999. Atlantic sharpnose sharks were Continuously tracked after release for periods of 0(.)75 to 5(.)90 h and their positions recorded at a median interval of 9 min. Individual rate of movement was the mean of all distance and time measurements For each fish. Mean +/- S.E. individual rate of movement was 0(.)45 +/- 0(.)06 total lengths per second (L-T s(-1)) and ranged from 0(.)28 to 0(.)92 L-T s(-1) over all fish. Movement patterns did not differ between jaw and internally hooked Atlantic sharpnose sharks. Individual rate of movement was inversely correlated with bottom water temperature at capture (r(2) = 0(.)52, P < 0(.)05). No consistent direction in movement was detected for Atlantic sharpnose sharks after release, except that they avoided movement towards shallower areas. Capture-release survival was high (90%), with only one fish lot Surviving, i.e. this particular Fish stopped movement for a period of 10 min. Total rate of movement was total distance over total time (m min(-1)) for each Atlantic sharpnose shark. Mean total rate of movement was significantly higher immediately after release at 21(.)5m min(-1) over the first 1(.)5 h of tracking, then decreased to 11(.)2m min(-1) over 1(.)5-6h, and 7(.)7m min(-1) over 3-6h (Pless than or equal to0(.)002), Which Suggested initial post-release stress but quick recovery front capture. Thus, high survival (90%) and quick recovery indicate that the practice of catch-and-release would be a viable method to reduce capture mortality for R. terraenovae. (C) 2004 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.