GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL PRACTICES MANUAL OF FISHING TOURISM
The Common Practices
The environmental good practices must inform about the environmental care of the space where a series of activities take place. The tourist always appreaciates very positively the image of a place being fully respected and preserved in favour of sustainability.
The fishing tourism comprises diverse sectors, and that is the reason that here we have some of the most common environmental practices. The following practices are usually very common in the people who generally do fishing or any other activity related to this kind of tourism:
• Knowledge and respect for the animals, environment and cultural heritage: avoiding any kind of alteration on them.
• Knowledge and respect for the regulations: paying attention to the activities going on in protected areas. It is not only about knowing these regulations, but also about respecting them and disseminating them.
• Information, communication and promotion of services and activities: informing with true facts without creating falsa expectations and keeping environmental rules and standards coherent with promotion and publicity.
• Direct information to the customer in the picked destination: the information must be appropriate, providing maps and flyers.
• Transportation: car drives are recommended to be reduced, as well as efficient driving, avoiding unnecessary bothering to the animals and the people there, checking driving papers from time to time to make sure efficiency and the availability of necessary permits and insurances.
• Shops and offices: optimizing the different instruments and their use to ensure their efficiency in terms of energy, paper and other necessary materials.
• Waste management: reducing the amount of waste and recycling the ones produced.
• Maintenance and cleaning of equipment and utilities: checking on the state of the equipment from time to time and using cleaning products not harmful to the environment.
• Cuisine: purchasing products in bulk or in biodegradable or returnable packaging, prioritizing the consumption of seasonal products and sustainable exploitation products and avoiding surpluses.
• Qualification of employers and employees: carrying out training activities on fishing tourism, so that professionals can correctly practice their activity.
On Board
The previous section included measures applicable to diverse activities in the fishing sector, but in this section we have some more measures complementing the previous ones, being more specific of the fishing tourism on board. These mesures are applicable both to the experts in fishing and the tourists on board:
• Comply with the tourist rules and regulations: apart from respecting the fishing regulations.
• Inform the tourists about the safety precautions: including a rescue protocol, the state of the sea and the itinerary to follow, as well as preventive measures for seasickness or others.
• Knowledge of the fish species in the territory: their situation and the level of threat, as well as the most and least favourable seasons to see them.
• Help the tourist in the correct identification of the visible fish species: helping the tourist get to know the life of the species.
• Take into account the diversity of tourists: it is convenient that the tourist groups are formed of people who speak the same language or with a similar culture for them to feel comfortable.
• Limit the number of tourists: limiting the number of tourists is extremely convenient to not hinder the crew's duties as well as to guarantee the maximum comfort for the tourists.
• Keep the distance between individuals as well as the distance from the animals: getting too close to the animals, touching them or swimming with them will not allowed. The voive level will be kept low when close to the animals and speed will be reduced or even turning the engine off when getting close to the animals area.
• Keep the boat in optimal conditions for the tourist activity: this means the good state of railings, seats, windows and clean lavatories.
• Balance carbon dioxide emissions: with the good working of the machinery and a proper driving.
• Be sympathetic with the tourists: the tourist may interfere somehow in the regular course of the fishing activity. This must be corrected properly, but not altering the state of the environment.
• Waste management: all the waste generated by the tourists and the crew must be taken back to shore to be recycled and avoid any kind of pollution.
FISHING SECTOR SUPPLIERS
FISHING TIPS
FISH CONSUMPTION BENEFITS
GOOD PRACTICE OF FISHING TOURISM
FISHING TOURISM ACTIVITIES
FISHING AREAS
