ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture and Living Resources
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1675575
Baseline data of the marine recreational fisheries in the NW Mediterranean Sea: finding the variable that drives the catch
Provisionally accepted
Marta Pujol-Baucells1,2*
Carlota Mateu-Pinilla1,2Marta Blanco1,2Marta Carreton1,2
Laura Recasens1,2
Joan B. Company1,2
Eve Galimany1,2- 1Institut Català de Recerca per a la Governança del Mar (ICATMAR), Barcelona, Spain
- 2Institut de Ciencies del Mar, Barcelona, Spain
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ABSTRACT Recreational fishing is an increasingly popular leisure activity on a global scale, with catches that may surpass those of commercial fisheries. However, the lack of comprehensive and standardized data hinders accurate assessment of its ecological impact. This study investigates the species composition across three variables including fishing modalities (shore angling, boat angling, and spearfishing), zone and season along the NW Mediterranean coast. Presence and abundanceSpecies identification and number of individuals caught data were obtained through onsite surveys conducted between 2020 and 2023. The results reveal significant differences in catch composition among modalities, as well as across spatial and seasonal scales. However, modality exhibited the greatest differentiation in catch composition compared to the other two variables. Then, regarding modality, boat angling and spearfishing yielded the highest catch ratesnumber of individual catches but boat angling had the greatest number of species (i.e., 69). However, species composition characterized the catches of each modality. Specifically, Dicentrarchus labrax was more frequently fished by shore anglers, Loligo vulgaris by boat anglers, and Mullus surmuletus by spearfishers. Currently, there is a need to develop and reinforce marine recreational fisheries sustainable management practices at a global regional scale. In the study area, our findings demonstrate suggest that fishing modality is the main driver to consider when developing sustainable management strategies and the conservation of coastal marine biodiversity.
Keywords: shore angling, Boat angling, spearfishing, species composition, Catalan coast, Fisheries Management
Received: 29 Jul 2025; Accepted: 03 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pujol-Baucells, Mateu-Pinilla, Blanco, Carreton, Recasens, Company and Galimany. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marta Pujol-Baucells, mpbaucells@gmail.com
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