Fisheries Management Division, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Shiga Prefectural Government, Otsu, Shiga 520-8577, Japan
To assess the status of recreational trolling of the Biwa salmon Oncorhynchus masou subsp. in Lake Biwa, recreational anglers have been obliged to register with the Lake Biwa Fisheries Management Committee since December 2008. Reports for three years show that the number of anglers increased every year. The submission rate of catch reports was about 90%. Over this three-year period, the total number of fishing days and fish caught in the summer season were much larger than those in the winter season. Although about 10,000 fish were caught by anglers every year, 41.4-67.3% of them were released. The total amount of fish caught by the anglers was estimated to be 6.6-8.6 t, and the total annual commercial catch of Biwa salmon in Lake Biwa was 23.2-45.8 t.