Belgian marine recreational fisheries were extensively described for the first time in 2019 (focus year: 2018). As no licensing system applies and there is no landing obligation, detailed information was not previously available. In recent years, Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and the Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) have developed a tailor-mademethodology that provides a scientifically based answer to the knowledge gaps with respect to this activity. This method mainly focuses on field observations and active participation from the recreational sea fishing community, in which transparent communication and mutual trust form the key values. The past year, however, a decrease in the level of activity of the participants was detected. Therefore, preventing a further dropout is a point of attention for the near future. Marine recreational fisheries in Belgium are diverse in nature. Seven different techniques are distinguished within the framework of this study: (1) boat angling, (2) boat trawling, (3) angling from a dam/jetty, (4) angling from the beach/breakwater, (5) wading using a small shrimp net, (6) passive beach fishing and (7) horseback shrimp fishing. However, for the latter, no catch data are available for the current data collection period. The current report focuses exclusively on fishing effort and catch data for 2019, comparingthem with the situation in 2018. Due to script optimisations made over the past year, the 2018 data differ slightly from the previously reported values in Verleye et al. (2019). In total, 5,700 boat trips (86,000 fishing hours on a personal level) were undertaken with angling boats and 2,000 with trawlers (15,000 fishing hours on a personal level) in 2019. This represents a decrease of 28% compared to 2018. For beach-related fishing activities, the reduction in fishing effort on an annual level was estimated at around 8%, compared to 2018. The highest fishing effort is related to passive beach fishing (50,000 fishing hours), followed by anglers from ...