Climate Change and Recreational Fishing: implications of climate change for recreational fishers and the recreational fishing industry

This report is the first national perspective of the implications of climate change on recreational fisheries and the recreational fishing industry providing a platform for further discussion of the ecological impact on species and evaluation of adaptation and mitigation options.\ud \ud Highlighted that, with climate change will come increasing climate variability and stressors such as changing sea level, it is recognised that everything we can do to ensure resilience of fish populations is essential.\ud \ud Highlighted the need for monitoring to focus on data that can be used to better predict the future, especially in the areas of recruitment and recording species outside their normal range. These are areas where recreational fishers can play a role in data collection.\ud \ud Recognition of the need for greater flexibility and responsiveness in fisheries management and to move to a whole of stock management approach as climate change alters the dynamics and distribution of fish stocks.\ud \ud Recognition that understanding and mitigating the impacts of climate change on recreational fishing has some important human dimensions, such as understanding the choices fishers make in response to climate change and the flow‐on effects of these choices

Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment

The data supporting the findings of this study are available in the Supplementary Materials (Appendix 3, Appendix 4, Appendix 5, Tables A3-A5). Raw datasets (where available) and results summary tables for each analysis of human mobility and empirical datasets are deposited in a github repository: https://github.com/rjcommand/PAN-Environment.International audienceHighlights: • The global COVID-19 lockdown has impacted nature and conservation programs. • Immediate effects are documented across the world and in all ecosystems. • Initial responses are biased towards established monitoring programs and networks. • Complex positive and negative effects were detected, some with cascading impacts. • Humans are important custodians of species and ecosystems.Abstract: The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus, initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness

Global COVID-19 lockdown highlights humans as both threats and custodians of the environment

The data supporting the findings of this study are available in the Supplementary Materials (Appendix 3, Appendix 4, Appendix 5, Tables A3-A5). Raw datasets (where available) and results summary tables for each analysis of human mobility and empirical datasets are deposited in a github repository: https://github.com/rjcommand/PAN-Environment.International audienceHighlights: • The global COVID-19 lockdown has impacted nature and conservation programs. • Immediate effects are documented across the world and in all ecosystems. • Initial responses are biased towards established monitoring programs and networks. • Complex positive and negative effects were detected, some with cascading impacts. • Humans are important custodians of species and ecosystems.Abstract: The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus, initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness