Risk assessment of live bait: Alien species in live bait used by anglers in the Netherlands

Angling is one of the commonest forms of water recreation in the Netherlands with about 11 million fresh water fishing trips per year, including 800.000 trips to coastal waters. Anglers use live bait such as worms, insect larvae and plants to hook fish. Inparticular sea anglers use marine worms, which are commercially harvested in coastalwetlands, farmed in closed systems or collected from the wild by the anglers themselves. In Europe an increasing amount of marine worms is imported from other continents, in particular Asia, which has resulted in several successful introductions of invasive alien species. It is unknown if non-native invertebrates are also imported tothe Netherlands.