Chapter 12.3: Legislative treatment and current status of competitive fishing in Germany

Competitive fishing has long been a part of recreational fisheries across the world (Schramm and Harrison this book). For the purpose of this German case study, traditional fishing competitions are events at a particular fishery at one point in time that (1) are organized and conducted by private organizations (mostly angling clubs or associations); (2) allot fishing spots by lottery to conttestants who try to catch the highest biomass or the largest (heavist) fish in a specified tome frame; (3) sometimes require entry fees from participants; and (4) award winners prizes either as money, goods or recognition. The most common is the award of a trophy, certificates or fishing tackle. The value of these goods rarely exceeds €1000. The objective of this section is to describe the legal and historical background of traditional competitive fishing in Germany and how the fishing community has adapted to a ban on such events.