Call to End Trophy Fishing of Threatened Species

September 3, 2014 By: Erin Block

The authors of a new research study published in Marine Policy present evidence in support of a halt to the International Game Fish Association’s practice of awarding weight-based world records for fish species threatened with extinction. “If the IGFA stopped issuing records that implicitly require killing the fish for IUCN Red List Threatened species, it would immediately reduce fishing pressure on the largest individuals,” the authors write. “So long as there are incentives to catch the largest, oldest, most fecund and fittest individuals within a population, recreational fishing pressure will continue to target these fish and likely exacerbate population declines.” Via Science Insider.