Angling for Sustainability
Angling for Sustainability is a collaborative partnership led by the University of Plymouth with the Angling Trust, Southern IFCA, the Professional Boatman’s Association and Natural England funded by Defra’s Fisheries Industry Science Partnership.
It focuses on giving our sport a bigger voice through ongoing fisheries management plans, ensuring the environmental sustainability of the sector and highlighting the valuable contribution sea anglers make to conservation and scientific research.
What does Angling for Sustainability plan to do?
- Firstly, it will investigate the nesting site fidelity, habitat use, fisheries interactions, and wider migration patterns of black bream in Dorset.
- Secondly, it will focus on studying the habitat use, migration patterns, and site fidelity of elasmobranch species like tope, starry smooth-hound, and undulate ray in the Solent area.
Angling for Sustainability aims to bridge data gaps on these recreationally valuable species by using a type of tagging and tracking technology called acoustic telemetry. This research is made possible by working in collaboration with local skippers and recreational anglers to catch the fish and deploy tags.
The project began in January 2023 and to date the partnership has successfully tagged 100 black bream in Dorset with plans to tag another 100 fish in 2024. In autumn 2023 the partnership plan to begin tagging tope, starry smooth-hound and undulate ray in the Solent area.
Anglers fishing around the Solent and Dorset are encouraged to look out for tagged fish and report them to [email protected].
Join us to chat all things black bream
Happening Monday 22nd April, Poole - Sign Up Today
How to Identify & Report A Tagged Bream
How to Identify and Report a Tagged Shark, Skate or Ray
Black Bream Workshops - Poole and Weymouth
On Thursday 1st June 2023 the Angling for Sustainability partnership held a well-attended workshop on black bream tagging with local skippers and anglers to inform the community on the goals of the project, to address any questions or concerns, and to demonstrate the tagging process and how to report tagged fish. The event was held at Broadstone Conservative Club and was a very successful evening.
Following building interest in the project, the Angling for Sustainability team hosted a second workshop on black bream tagging and tracking with local charter skippers and anglers in Weymouth at Weymouth Angling Society.
We would like to express our thanks to all anglers and skippers who attended these workshops and for their continued support for the project.
In 2024 the project plans to host more in-person and online workshops to feedback to anglers and skippers on the projects progress and findings.
Watch Now | Angling for Sustainability Virtual Forum
Shark & Ray Workshop - Southsea
On Monday 2nd October 2023 the Angling for Sustainability partnership held a well-attended workshop on shark and ray tagging with local skippers and anglers to inform the community on the goals of the project in the Solent, to address any questions or concerns, and to demonstrate the tagging process and how to report tagged fish. The event was held at Eastney Cruising Association and was another successful evening.
We would like to express our thanks to all anglers and skippers who attended these workshops and for their continued support for the project.
In 2024 the project plans to host more in-person and online workshops to feedback to anglers and skippers on the projects progress and findings.
