Recreational fishing in freshwater ecosystems is a popular pastime in Australia. Although most native fish are endemic, the fauna is depauperate compared to any landmass of similar size. With commercial fishing no longer a major industry in the country’s freshwaters, the future sustainability of these ecosystems will depend heavily on the actions of recreational fishers. However, there has been...

The establishment of marine protected areas is often viewed as a conflict between conservation and fishing. We considered consumptive and nonconsumptive interests of multiple stakeholders (i.e., fishers, scuba divers, conservationists, managers, scientists) in the systematic design of a network of marine protected areas along California's central coast in the context of the Marine Life Protecti...

Fishing constitutes one of the most significant threats to marine biodiversity and ecosystem function, documented by a growing body of information on the numerous impacts to populations, community structure, and habitats (Dayton et al., 1995; Roberts, 1995; Jennings and Polunin, 1996). Besides the more obvious effects on species population structure, fishing activities may also reduce the struc...

Background Soccer is the most popular sport worldwide, with a long history and currently more than 500 million active participants, of whom 300 million are registered football club members. On the basis of scientific findings showing positive fitness and health effects of recreational soccer, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) introduced the slogan ‘‘Playing football for 4...

AIMS To identify the most efficient techniques for the separation of micro-organisms from coastal sediments and, using these techniques, to determine the concentration of faecal indicator organisms in recreational coastal water and sediment. METHODS AND RESULTS Sediment samples were taken from a range of recreational coastal sites and subjected to various physical techniques to separate micro...

BACKGROUND Access to local parks can affect walking levels. Neighborhood environment and park use may influence relationships between neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and walking. METHODS Self-report data on perceived park features, neighborhood environment, park use, neighborhood walking and sociodemographics were obtained from a sample of Australian adults, living in high/low SES are...