Recreational fishers’ attitudes to fisheries management and compliance

Recreational fisheries policy decisions have social and ecological outcomes that depend on whether regulations are understood and meet expectations, which in turn enhances compliance. This study investigates perceptions of management and compliance among boat-based recreational fishers in Western Australia with consideration of demography (age, residence) and fishing behaviour (avidity, bioregion fished). Most respondents considered themselves to be informed about rules governing their fishing and there was strong support for current input and output controls, including area and seasonal closures and possession and size limits. There was less support for alternative regulations that are not currently in practice, such as annual catch or effort limits, particularly among avid fishers. There was high support for minimising illegal fishing and using penalties to ensure fishers follow regulations. Relative to infrequent participants, avid fishers had greater awareness of prosecutions for illegal fishing and were more supportive of prosecution and suspensions for illegally selling recreationally caught fish. There was near unanimous agreement that prosecution and suspensions were appropriate for obstructing or assaulting a fisheries officer whilst performing their duty. This study demonstrates an approach to understand views on fisheries policy and identify target audiences that may need deeper engagement to understand benefits of management decisions.