National Recreational Fishing Survey of 2019-21

in a fisher’s life? Is fishing their main recreational activity or one of several or just a minor and occasional alternative or substitute?

In February this year, the report of the first detailed study of the social and economic benefits from recreational fishing in Australia was launched in Melbourne at the 10th World Recreational Fishing Conference. The study provided a comprehensive picture of recreational fishers across Australia; their numbers, where and how often they fish; their motivations and behaviours; and the social and economic benefits they generate across the country.

Conference attendees heard that globally, participation is declining in North America, Europe and other developed countries, despite population growth (See Fig.1 ). They also heard of significant recent advances in social sciences investigations of the health and wellbeing benefits to fishers, and community attitudes towards recreational fishing.

The previous FMM article outlined the origins and objectives of the study and described the results on Australians’ participation in recreational fishing. It also described how the study embraced two unforeseen events that overtook it: the Black Summer bushfires and the COVID-19 epidemic. And, with the opportunity to examine the effects of major disruptions to ‘normal’ fishing activities, the following objective was added:

Objective 4. Identify how fishing activity changed in response fishers’ positive role in environmental stewardship. Those interested in the survey methods and data sources, and related technical details should refer to the full study report National Social and Economic Survey of Recreational Fishers, 2018-2021 which can be found at www.frdc.com.au/ project/2018-161. Referred to here as the NRFS, the full title reflects the focus on fishers rather than fishing catches and effort.

The Environmental Setting

One of Australia’s worst-ever droughts extended from 2016 to 2020, including much of the survey data collection period. With 2019 the country’s hottest and driest year on record, the late winter saw the beginnings of what became the Black damage to housing, infrastructure, and personal movements, including fishing and tourism generally. They also caused catastrophic damage to inland and estuarine waters, as sediments, ash and ‘trash’ were washed in and persisted for months.

The Effects

With the post-fires floods, and their lingering effects, coinciding with governments’ rapid responses to the COVID-19 outbreak, the NRFS turned up some interesting results. Prior to the fires, floods and pandemic, the most reported obstacles to fishing were work commitments, adverse weather conditions and the lack of fishing companions.

But from March 2020, social movement and non-essential service restrictions added to

The survey showed that, nationally, the monthly number of days fished rose and fell with the imposition and relaxation of travel and movement restrictions. In every month across the first year of the pandemic, more than

The study looked at what activities may be linked to fishing, and what a fisher may turn to if they can’t go fishing. It found that most fishers engage in other recreational activities and are at least equally likely to choose one of them over fishing. Camping, picnics/ barbeques, four-wheel driving, and kayaking were common substitutes for fishing.

Fishing is the most important activity for a third of fishers, and men of 60+ years have fewer ‘substitutes’ and spend more time fishing. But, early on, under the AprilJune 2020 COVID-19 restrictions, some fishers chose fishing over other activities, while more fished in preference to their other usual activities. During that period, fishers commonly replaced fishing with household chores, cycling, swimming, walking, gardening, and home entertainment. Thus, for many fishers, much of lived and where they spent money on fishing around the country. It estimated that, in 2018/19, fishing contributed $11.5 billion to Australia’s GDP, supporting 101,342 fulltime equivalent jobs. The GDP total included $7.1 billion representing wages and salaries – benefiting the livelihoods of Australians and their households (See Fig.3 ). to the Black Summer bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of the $11.5 billion total, $3.3 billion or 28% related to fishing gear and tackle. Other expenditure comprised overnight trips (21%), boat running costs (20%), capital expenses (16%), and day trip costs (15%). While capital city resident fishers account for 59% of expenditure, much of what fishers spend occurs in rural and regional areas, highlighting the importance and value of fishing to regional economies.

Although the methods used in this NRFS and the 1999-2000 national survey are not directly comparable, the growth in expenditure per fisher over the past two decades is reckoned to be 200% to 300%.

This article briefly describes the impacts of major bushfires, droughtbreaking floods, and COVID-19; switching between fishing and other activities; fishing’s economic contribution; health and wellbeing benefits; the ‘social licence’ of fishing; and

Summer bushfires which extended until February 2020. While fires burned in every state, they were most intense over much of the coast and inland areas of Queensland, NSW, Victoria, and SA, burning across more than 24 million hectares of land.

The drought and fires ended abruptly with the intense rains along the East Coast, causing extreme the usual post-summer downturn in overall fishing activity. Interstate travel restrictions, lockdowns, ‘social distancing,’ and close-to-home movement limits severely curtailed fishing. Lockdowns were particularly restrictive in NSW and Victoria, but some fishing remained permissible throughout, except for March-April 2020 in Victoria.

50% of fishers fished less often compared to a year previously. Overall, fishing activity levels changed irrespective of age, gender, and home location – except for the marked decline in Victoria during that state’s 2-month lockdown.

Of those who continued to fish, 43% found that this helped them to cope with restrictions; this was particularly true for keen fishers. However, 24% found fishing more stressful than usual, and increased crowding at fishing spots, while a fear of public criticism concerned many fishers.

Substitutes For Fishing

Where does fishing sit the social and economic benefits normally resulting from fishing were achieved through their substitute activities.

However, the small minority of fishers classed as ‘avid,’ present a disproportionately large part of the economic benefits flowing from fishing on account of how frequently they fish, and how much they spend on fishing. In turn, they also less commonly choose other activities above fishing. See Fig.2.

FISHING’S ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION

This study, for the first time, included fishers’ expenditure on fishing, irrespective of where they

Fishing As Physical Activity

There has been a recent world-wide shift beyond measuring ‘benefits’ mainly in direct and flow-on expenditure and employment terms. This was reflected at the Melbourne world conference in February, where presentations and participation reflected the surge in interest in the benefits generated in areas such as fishers’ physical and mental health, wellness, and their contributions to research and habitat protection. The survey results show that fishing contributes health and wellbeing benefits through the physical activity involved. A typical three-hour fishing trip involves about 100 minutes of ‘moderate physical activity’, or more than half the minimum recommended weekly amount recommended for 18-64 year olds, regardless of age, gender, or whether boat or shore based. For fishers aged above 65 years, this may represent a more important contribution to their physical activity needs. However, as the great majority of fishers – about 70% – fish fewer than five days a year, fishing plays a minor part in meeting their activity needs.

As avid and older fishers who fish frequently are less likely to engage in other and restorative aspects of fishing” are likely to enjoy healthier levels of wellbeing than others. The study results also confirm the value of encouraging people suffering stressful times to go fishing as a positive, calming and restorative ‘prescription.’ Extension of these results suggests that, for occasional fishers, similar wellbeing benefits could be obtained by engaging in their other preferred outdoor activities, such as bushwalking, camping or kayaking.

There is more good news: unlike most such alternative nature-based activities, for many people, fishing remains accessible, by 79% of Australians surveyed. In fact, fishing was more highly favoured than other uses of natural resources, such as hunting, and operations conducted in fire protection, forestry, and agriculture. See Fig.4.

Fishing groups have a long history of direct involvement in conservation and habitat restoration directed at both popular target species and threatened species. However, much of their effort was conducted through fishers’ own commitment and awareness of conservation challenges. In recent times, fishers have been more active in promoting their activities in these areas, to garner various forms of fishing, including the careful release of unwanted or undersized fish, promise to build recognition of fishing in a positive light. for fishing advocates and communicators, and longer term with the risk of losing public support if those adverse views of younger people persist as tagging fish, and reporting rare species and changed environmental conditions. The NFRS found that more fishers would be prepared to engage in such activities, fishing may be more important in meeting their activity needs.

Health And Wellbeing

Fishing as a naturebased outdoor recreation offers health and wellbeing benefits in many ways. Here, wellbeing can be stated simply as, “judging life positively and feeling good” or feelings of positive emotions and fulfilment, and the absence of depression, anxiety, and other negative emotions. Fishing can contribute these benefits in the forms of relaxation, confidencebuilding, social connection, and physical and mental health. Fishing is found to be particularly valuable in addressing extremes of stress and personal loss.

From the study findings, those who fished in the previous year experienced higher levels of wellbeing than others who didn’t, irrespective of gender, income level, and whether living in urban or rural locations. And, those fishers who value “the nature connection supporting positive health and wellbeing as they age and, perhaps, experience reduced mobility.

Social Licence

Questions around “social licence” or public acceptance of uses of community-owned natural resources are being raised increasingly. In Victoria, duck shooting comes to mind as a topical and contentious recreational activity, reflecting that community support can’t be assumed to stay constant and unquestioning over time. The NRFS report refers to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation’s surveys, which tracked community support for recreational fishing, between 2002 and 2018. It found that support peaked in 2011 then declined over the following three surveys, to 2018. Despite this, with continued access to fish stocks dependent on community support, fishers may be comforted to know that the NRFS found recreational fishing to be “highly or somewhat acceptable” both public recognition and resources. Education campaigns and the widespread adoption of codes of practice for

Unsurprisingly, of those surveyed, most of the 8% who found fishing “unacceptable” were non-fishers. Fewer women than men saw fishing as acceptable, but the big difference was among age groups; on average, younger people were less likely to see fishing as acceptable and more likely than older people to find it unacceptable. That poses a challenge for fishing communicators and an obstacle to ‘recruitment’ of young fishers as numbers of currently-older age groups fade.

The challenges that these pose are both immediate they grow older.

Fishers And Environmental Stewardship

During the past 20 years, fishers have been increasingly involved in environmental clean-up and restoration efforts. These range from individuals collecting rubbish, to funding and actively participating in organised habitat restoration programs, such as oyster reef recovery and river re-snagging work.

Small numbers contribute to research and stock assessment, for instance, by regularly recording catch and fishing effort data, programs in future. While most can readily comply with fishing regulations, the effective use of ‘best practice’ fish handling, and species identification were among factors limiting their capacity to confidently engage in these programs.

Regular reporting of catch data brought interesting responses to the survey. Most agree that fishers should contribute such data, and 21% had provided information to aid stock assessments at some time, but 51% had reservations about how the data might be used. The results suggest the need, and the opportunity, to encourage avid fishers to play a role in encouraging less-keen fishers, particularly younger and female fishers, about developing skills, responsible fishing, and contributing to environmental programs.

In Conclusion

Just as the 19992000 national survey did, this NRFS represents advances in sampling and analysis approaches that are likely to positively shape the directions of surveys and research conducted by government fisheries agencies and other interests, for many years to come.

Fishers who are interested in finding out more about the “National Social and Economic Survey of Recreational Fishers, 2018-2021,” the full report can be accessed at – www.frdc.com.au/ project/2018-161.

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• 13% lighter than previous model

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• Battery Free EFI for fast, reliable starting

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• New exclusive multi-functional tiller handle, adjustable for left or right handed operations

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