Coastal fish resources: the foundation for tourist fishing and related commerce

Norwegian coastal waters contain plentiful and valuable resources that contribute to the well being and economy of the people living along the coast. During the 1990?s tourist fishing became an important part of the Norwegian tourist market. Recently, tou rist fishing has become a very active and contentious issue in Norway that has been extensively debated on radio and television, in newspapers and within political circles. The debate centers on the optimum use of coastal fish resources and pits local inh abitants and professional fishermen against the tourist fishers and related businesses. In particular, the commercial fishing industry feels that the increasing tourist trade will result in local declines in abundance and ultimately in more restrictive re gulations. To secure the sustainability of the tourist fishery and resolve conflicts among coastal stakeholders, it is necessary to quantify the effect the tourist fishery has on coastal stocks. Without such information, it is impossible to assess or mana ge any fishery. At present there are no precise statistics on how many tourists fish along the coast or how much and which species they catch. To rectify this situation we propose to design and implement a scientific survey of the coastal sport fishery th at will generate estimates of the average catch-per-tourist fisher, the total catch, the catch composition, and the length and weight distribution for each species of interest.