Recreational fisheries in inland waters

Recreational fisheries represent the dominant fisheries sector targeting wild freshwater fishes in all industrialized nations and are becoming increasingly popular in some emerging economies. The socio‐economic benefits of recreational fisheries are numerous and substantial. Recreational fisheries through their practices (e.g. overharvest, habitat change, release mortality, stocking and dispersal of non‐native fishes), however, have been implicated in negative effects on populations and ecosystems. In inland waters, fish populations also face a variety of threats that are external to the recreational fisheries sector such that recreational fisheries often operate on top of already imperilled resources. This chapter characterizes the scope and magnitude of inland recreational fisheries globally, explores recreational fisheries as a coupled social–ecological system, reviews management strategies, identifies the main issues faced by inland recreational fisheries and discusses the future of recreational fishing in inland waters with an emphasis on research and information needs to ensure their long‐term sustainability.