Do buyouts of commercial licences increase satisfaction of recreational fishers? A paired comparison of two Queensland zones

Queensland's newly designed net-free zones (NFZs), which prohibit commercial net fishing in coastal areas near Cairns, Mackay, and Rockhampton, were implemented to support recreational fisheries. Although some investigations on the effectiveness of establishing NFZs have been carried out by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), the analysis of recreational fishers’ fishing satisfaction and expectations from a NFZ relative to a non-NFZ (reference site) is yet to be explored. In this study, recreational fishers were surveyed at fishing tackle stores located in the regional cities of Rockhampton (NFZ) and Townsville (reference site). A total of 163 recreational fishers from Rockhampton and 130 fishers from Townsville were sampled in 2018 and completed a survey where fishers rated their responses on a 7-point Likert scale. The inherent causal relationship between satisfaction and expectations components, as well as the strength of that relationship, was demonstrated using structural equation modelling. The overall findings suggest that fishers’ satisfaction and expectations towards recreational fishing opportunities are higher in the NFZ than the reference site, and fishers' satisfaction and overall satisfaction in the NFZ have a positive and significant effect on their expectations. The output of this study will assist management bodies in providing additional insights into how management decisions affect recreational fishers' satisfaction and expectations in fishing.