Methods
Recreational vessel catches
Recreational catches for 14 coastal wilayas (districts, with particularities relating to the national
legislation) of Algeria are either not reported (most of the time) or are reported as part of the
commercial catch. We estimate these catches based on annual Catch Per Unit of Effort (CPUE)
data, where effort is defined as the number of actives vessels. We note that the size of the vessels,
their geographic fishing range, and fishing activities are assumed homogeneous, and hence, we
consider this as an appropriate measure of the fishing effort.
Initial- data on artisanal commercial vessel (small-scale professional) catches recorded daily
by observers were obtained from one of Western Algeria’s landing sites and analyzed. Vessel
name and registration number revealed that, from January 2012 to September 2014, reported
landings of small-scale professional fisheries also included catches of recreational vessels (locales
fisheries authorities, unpub. data). These data were reported to the FAO, which does not distinguish between catch types [7]. However the question remains raised with regards to how much
of the remaining catch is not reported, and what is its economic footprint.
Daily catch and effort data for 2012 were available, which allowed to estimate the CPUE for
that year. The number of fishing trips per year depends on seasons, varying from 28 (vessels
fishing only in summer) to 116 (vessels fishing throughout the year). This information was
available for 9 recreational vessels. The landings of each vessel were reported per day, per species, genus, or family and ‘per box’ and not by weight (locales fisheries authorities, unpub.
data, S1 Table). Each box is equivalent to 17 kg for pelagic fish and 14 kg for demersal fish in
wet weight. We estimated the annual landing for each vessel by adding up the daily landings of
all species combined. Hence, we estimated an average CPUE. we then extrapolated harborwide using the total number of recreational vessels, i.e. 9 vessels.
Finally, to estimate the coast-wide catch, we first obtained the number of recreational fishing licenses (one license per vessel) from the relevant fisheries departments of the 14 coastal
wilayas, then, assuming an even distribution of landings along the Algerian coast [17, 18, 19]
we multiplied the average CPUE by the number of licensed recreational vessels.
We assume here that all application for license is intended to a commercial fishing, because
fishing for subsistence doesn’t require any license [20]. There is no known threshold of how
much of the recreational catch is sold, however, professional fishers spoken with during the
course of this study agreed that at least "most" of the catch is sold in local markets, which constitutes an unfair competition. Hence, herein, we conservatively assume that 75% of the catch
is sold in local markets.
Spearfishing catches
To estimate recreational spearfishing catches, we multiplied the number of individual licenses
obtained from the wilayas’ fisheries register, where one fisher gets one license, by the number
of fishing days, assessed as 50 daysÁfisher
-1
Áyear
-1
, and the average daily weight of 20 kgÁfisher
-
1
Áday
-1 from [20]. We assumed both the CPUE and the number of fishing days remained constant over the 2011–2015 time period.
Fishers’ income from recreational fisheries and government lost revenue
The Algerian government collects taxes from all commercial sectors, and given the prohibition
of trade of recreationally caught fish, the Government does not collect any taxes from recreational fishers, assuming fishers abide by the law. Herein, we calculated the potential economic
loss to the Government that is attributable to this unregulated fishery as the difference between
The reality of recreational fishing sector in Algeria
PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201602 August 2, 2018
3 / 11
Recreational vessel catches
Recreational catches for 14 coastal wilayas (districts, with particularities relating to the national
legislation) of Algeria are either not reported (most of the time) or are reported as part of the
commercial catch. We estimate these catches based on annual Catch Per Unit of Effort (CPUE)
data, where effort is defined as the number of actives vessels. We note that the size of the vessels,
their geographic fishing range, and fishing activities are assumed homogeneous, and hence, we
consider this as an appropriate measure of the fishing effort.
Initial- data on artisanal commercial vessel (small-scale professional) catches recorded daily
by observers were obtained from one of Western Algeria’s landing sites and analyzed. Vessel
name and registration number revealed that, from January 2012 to September 2014, reported
landings of small-scale professional fisheries also included catches of recreational vessels (locales
fisheries authorities, unpub. data). These data were reported to the FAO, which does not distinguish between catch types [7]. However the question remains raised with regards to how much
of the remaining catch is not reported, and what is its economic footprint.
Daily catch and effort data for 2012 were available, which allowed to estimate the CPUE for
that year. The number of fishing trips per year depends on seasons, varying from 28 (vessels
fishing only in summer) to 116 (vessels fishing throughout the year). This information was
available for 9 recreational vessels. The landings of each vessel were reported per day, per species, genus, or family and ‘per box’ and not by weight (locales fisheries authorities, unpub.
data, S1 Table). Each box is equivalent to 17 kg for pelagic fish and 14 kg for demersal fish in
wet weight. We estimated the annual landing for each vessel by adding up the daily landings of
all species combined. Hence, we estimated an average CPUE. we then extrapolated harborwide using the total number of recreational vessels, i.e. 9 vessels.
Finally, to estimate the coast-wide catch, we first obtained the number of recreational fishing licenses (one license per vessel) from the relevant fisheries departments of the 14 coastal
wilayas, then, assuming an even distribution of landings along the Algerian coast [17, 18, 19]
we multiplied the average CPUE by the number of licensed recreational vessels.
We assume here that all application for license is intended to a commercial fishing, because
fishing for subsistence doesn’t require any license [20]. There is no known threshold of how
much of the recreational catch is sold, however, professional fishers spoken with during the
course of this study agreed that at least "most" of the catch is sold in local markets, which constitutes an unfair competition. Hence, herein, we conservatively assume that 75% of the catch
is sold in local markets.
Spearfishing catches
To estimate recreational spearfishing catches, we multiplied the number of individual licenses
obtained from the wilayas’ fisheries register, where one fisher gets one license, by the number
of fishing days, assessed as 50 daysÁfisher
-1
Áyear
-1
, and the average daily weight of 20 kgÁfisher
-
1
Áday
-1 from [20]. We assumed both the CPUE and the number of fishing days remained constant over the 2011–2015 time period.
Fishers’ income from recreational fisheries and government lost revenue
The Algerian government collects taxes from all commercial sectors, and given the prohibition
of trade of recreationally caught fish, the Government does not collect any taxes from recreational fishers, assuming fishers abide by the law. Herein, we calculated the potential economic
loss to the Government that is attributable to this unregulated fishery as the difference between
The reality of recreational fishing sector in Algeria
PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201602 August 2, 2018
3 / 11