Recreational fishing, health and well-being:findings from a cross-sectional survey

Pita, Pablo, Gribble, Matthew O., Antelo, Manel, Ainsworth, Gillian, Hyder, Kieran ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1428-5679, van den Bosch, Matilda and Villasante, Sebastián (2022) Recreational fishing, health and well-being:findings from a cross-sectional survey. Ecosystems and People, 18 (1). pp. 530-546. ISSN 2639-5908

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Abstract

We evaluated the associations between marine recreational fishing, stress, seafood consumption, and sleep quality in a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of a convenience sample of 244 fishers recruited in 2019 in Spain. Fishers’ stress levels were moderate, with a mean stress index score of 36.4 units on a scale from 14 (very low stress) to 70 (very high). Their average emotional condition was positive, with a mean index of negative affect of 7.8 units on a scale from 5 (very low negative affect) to 25 (very high). Seafood intake was low, with a mean index of seafood in diets of 38.0 units on a scale from 20 (very low seafood consumption) to 160 (very high). Fishers’ perceived quality of night sleep was good because the mean index of sleep problems was 39.5 units on a scale from 21 (very low sleep problems) to 107 (very high). Each hour of self-reported monthly fishing activity was associated with 0.016 units of lower stress score. Thus, the most engaged fishers reported up to 15.4% lower stress score than less avid fishers. Since recreational fishing is a highly accessible outdoor activity for people in older age groups, it is possible that public health could be improved by access to sustainably managed recreational fisheries. Fishing engagement was positively associated with seafood intake. Each hour of fishing per month was associated with one-unit higher seafood consumption. The higher seafood consumption observed among avid recreational fishers compared with less avid fishers might have health implications.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding Information: This work was funded by the Xunta de Galicia (RECREGES II project under Grant ED481B2018/017, and Grupos de Referencia Competitiva, under Grant ED431C2019/11). SV acknowledges the financial support of the European COST Action “Ocean Governance for Sustainability—challenges, options and the role of science,” the ICES Science Fund Project “Social Transformations of Marine Social-Ecological Systems,” and the CYTED program for the ECOMAR Network. MvdB was supported by funds from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, reference number 156152. MOG’s contributions were supported in part by funding from the United States National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences [P30ES019776]. We appreciate the involvement of the recreational fishers who participated in this study. The involvement of J. Beiro, chair of the Galician Federation of Responsible Marine Recreational Fishing and Sailing, was key to foster fishers’ participation. We thank C. Regueira and J. Lago, from the University of Santiago de Compostela, for their involvement in the initial study design and data processing. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Uncontrolled Keywords: blue and green spaces,outdoor activities,public health,recreational fisheries,sarah klain,stress,ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics,ecology,nature and landscape conservation,management, monitoring, policy and law,sdg 3 - good health and well-being,sdg 14 - life below water ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1105
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 25 Nov 2023 03:20
Last Modified: 27 Nov 2023 03:06
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/93770
DOI: 10.1080/26395916.2022.2112291

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