Management of freshwater fisheries: addressing habitat, people and fishes

This chapter describes approaches to the management of habitat, people and fish stocks that make up freshwater fisheries. Habitat management is advisable whenever habitat bottlenecks limit the productivity of a fishery. Harvest regulations are a useful conservation strategy when fishing mortality is high or specific sizes of fish are to be protected. Finally, stocking may be useful in situations where natural recruitment is lacking or extirpated species are to be restored. Planning of interventions necessitates a rigorous approach based on principles of adaptive management and structured decision‐making. Given the many stakeholders affected by fisheries management measures in fresh water, an integrative, stakeholder‐inclusive approach is recommended.