There is no doubt about that, even if we are going to do everything we can to make it work as well as possible, says Anders Karlsson, deputy secretary general, to TT.
Far more than a million people engage in recreational fishing at some point per year in Sweden, and now the rules for some of them may change.
Last Friday, the Fisheries and Aquaculture Investigation submitted its final report to the government.
Among many other things, new requirements are proposed that recreational fishermen over 18 years of age, under certain conditions, must register electronically with the authorities in the future.
This will take place with the Maritime and Water Authority with name, personal or coordination number and contact information.
The requirement will apply to fishing in the sea for species or stocks covered by the EU's recovery and management plans, and it concerns both the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.
Also catches
The number of species of fish and shellfish that are covered can vary from year to year and it is still unclear exactly how many recreational fishermen are affected.
Registration will also be required "in other cases, when recreational fishing in the sea or in state-managed freshwater areas, if according to regulations issued by the government or the authority determined by the government" is needed due to EU requirements.
Already in 2018, the EU Commission advocated that member states should be required to have a system for collecting catch information for scientific advice for the common fisheries policy.
The investigator now also proposes new requirements that the same categories of recreational fishermen must report their catches.
This will include, among other things, information about the catch site and other information determined by the Maritime and Water Authority.
"User-friendly way"
Anders Karlsson says that Sportfiskarna welcomes the registration of both fishermen and catches if it can protect the stocks.
At the same time, his organization, with around 73,000 members, is far from comprehensive and it can become a major educational challenge to get as many recreational fishermen as possible to understand why it is important.
It is crucial that the systems for reporting become easy and easy to understand, he says.
It must be done in a user-friendly way and we need to be involved in the development of this.
The number of people aged 16-80 who engaged in recreational fishing at some point in 2024 was around 1.2 million, of which around 790,000 men and 430,000 women. In addition to this, there is a large but unknown number of children, young people, and foreign tourists.
The number of fishing days last year was around 10.1 million, of which 5.3 million were from a boat. The inland areas of Götaland and Svealand had the most fishing days, followed by Norrland's inland.
The most common species to fish for is perch in both inland fishing and coastal and sea fishing. Pike fishing is also very common in both types of water. But also fishing for salmon and sea trout - as well as other salmonids - and freshwater crayfish, lobster, pikeperch, whitefish, mackerel, herring/sprat, and cod is common.
The expenses for recreational fishing for consumables, fishing licenses, travel, fishing guides, food, and accommodation last year amounted to around 6.4 billion kronor. Expenses for larger purchases, such as boats or more expensive equipment, are estimated at 4.8 billion kronor. The total expenses thus amounted to around 11.2 billion kronor.
Source: SCB, Maritime and Water Authority
