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Inland Fishing Gear: Diversity, Classification, Management and Conservation Challenges
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This review of 114 studies looks at the many types of fishing gear used in lakes and rivers worldwide, finding that gillnets are the most common tool but also one of the biggest contributors to environmental harm, including lost or abandoned nets that keep trapping fish ("ghost fishing") and, importantly, plastic pollution. Since much fishing gear is made of plastic that breaks down over time, it can add to the microplastics accumulating in waterways, the same waterways that supply fish and drinking water to millions of people. Better rules around gear types, materials, and disposal could help protect both freshwater ecosystems and the food and
ABSTRACT This review highlights the diversity of fishing gear used in inland fisheries, particularly in small‐scale and artisanal fisheries worldwide. It focuses on gear regulation and management, emphasizing environmental impacts and associated conservation challenges, particularly the emerging problem of plastic pollution from fishing in aquatic environments. A total of 114 studies meeting the criteria were reviewed. Of the 46 gear types in the second‐tier classification of the FAO Revised International Standard Statistical Classification of Fishing Gears (ISSCFG), 40 are used in inland fisheries. These gear types are spatially and temporally diverse, with set gillnets the most common. The study shows that some forms of inland fishing gear are associated with environmental impacts that pose conservation challenges, including biodiversity loss, overexploitation, ghost fishing, excessive bycatch and habitat destruction. Inland fishing gear may contribute to plastic pollution through its operational mode, open access, enforcement levels and gear materials. The principal gear regulations are mesh size limitations, bans on specific gear and closed seasons. The future of inland fisheries depends on sustainable fishing practices, robust fishery resources, and a conducive policy and regulatory environment that enables effective gear management to reduce negative environmental impacts, such as plastic pollution.
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