I received a copy of the January 2000 American
Sportfishing Newsletter. This newsletter contained interesting
information about why anglers fish. The information came from the
"Future of Fishing" surveys conducted in 1980, 1995 and
1999. According to ASA the results of these surveys show
that in 1999 "more people who fish do so for relaxation
(35%), to be with friends and family (33%), and to be close to
nature (13%). Catching large trophy fish (3%), catching
fresh fish for food (5%), and fishing simply for the sport of it
(7%) are no longer considered motivations by most anglers."
The entire report is available at the ASA
website.
Some fisheries managers would conclude that recreational anglers
now pursue fishing for the social benefits rather than for
actually catching fish for their personal consumption.
According to the survey, this has changed dramatically. In
1980 almost 30% of anglers fished for food, now only about 5%
fish for food. In 1980 about 10% of anglers fished for a
trophy fish. Now only about 3% do. Compare that to
fishing for relaxation, which rose from less than 15% in 1980 to
35% in 1999.
I find this information very interesting. I would like to
share my analysis of these statistics. It would be tempting
to assume that anglers no longer care about catching a trophy
fish or bringing home fish to eat and are simply fishing for
relaxation. My experience suggests that different reasons
underlie these responses, especially for saltwater anglers.
From 1980 to the present day, anglers have become more aware of
the contaminants in fresh water and salt water fish. In any
state's fishing digest you will find many advisories for limiting
the consumption of various species. Most of these
advisories, whether for salmon in the Great Lakes or striped bass
in the Hudson River, suggest strict guidelines on the consumption
of these species. The guidelines are even stricter for
children or women of child bearing age. In the 1970's and
early 80's, I thought nothing of filleting an entire cooler of
15-pound or larger bluefish for my family and friends.
After all the PCB advisories on large bluefish in the 80's, I no
longer keep or consume this quantity of large bluefish nor am I
willing to be responsible for feeding family and friends. I
have taken the same action regarding steaks from large striped
bass. This is true of all the fish with advisories. We
certainly don't eat as much as we did twenty years ago and this
leaves me with less motivation to catch fish with advisories for
personal consumption.
Many of the fish that I would now take home for food are the ones
with strict bag limits and large size limits. In addition,
some of these species are harder to catch due to the depletion of
the stocks from commercial over harvesting. In the 70's and
80's I could come home with a cooler full of summer flounder for
family and friends, filling our freezers for the winter.
With the collapse of the stocks by the commercial fishermen
during the late 80's and the implementation and subsequent
reduction of the bag limit, I am lucky to come home with one
legal summer flounder for tonight's dinner.
Now consider the anglers who did enjoy fishing for a trophy
fish. Those fish are gone, swept up in nets and hooks of
the commercial fishermen. This is true of mako shark, striped
bass, large bluefish, large weakfish, true giant blue tuna and
many other species. The same problems exist along the south
Atlantic and the Gulf. The only places trophy size fish
like snook, tarpon and redfish are seeing resurgence are places
where they were made a game fish. This survey does not
address the issue of decreased recreational
participation. We all know that fewer people are fishing,
and I believe we are managing recreational anglers off the beach
and off the boat. When I fished with my father in the 50's,
there were more than 60 party boats and hundreds of charter boats
in Brooklyn. The Sheepshead Bay fleet had more than 50
party boats and 100 charter boats. On any given day you
would find people fishing; in the winter for whiting, ling,
blackfish and cod, in the spring for weakfish, winter flounder,
blackfish, sea bass, striped bass and mako sharks, in the summer
for summer flounder, scup, bluefish, and weakfish, in the fall
for all the migrating species including bluefin tuna. When
I stopped by Sheepshead Bay a few years ago, I found four luxury
cruise boats for dinner and gambling and only eight party
boats. The charter boat fleet was almost nonexistent.
The tackle stores that supplied these boats were no longer the
fully stocked wonders of my youth. Only two remained open
and their stocks were as depleted as the fish. When was the
last time someone asked these clients why they go fishing.
They are no longer there to respond to the survey.
In my estimation, this chart says more about fisheries management
than it does about why anglers fish. With increased
advisories and regulations, anglers have had no choice but to
find other reasons to go fishing. We have to content
ourselves with the social benefits, positive though those may be,
when there simply are no fish to catch. Ask any angler more
questions, find our why he or she learned to love fishing in the
first place and I would bet that you would get different
information than what is included in this survey. If there
were more fish to catch for food or trophy, you would probably
find more anglers on the beach or in the boats to respond to the
survey. If we changed the population responding to the
survey, the results could be very different. Fisheries
managers should be careful about the assumptions they make based
on this survey.
Release For Tomorrow
Tom Fote
**Note: While I agree in principal with all the
efforts of the JCAA, I do not necessarily agree with what is said
in the text above as I may or may not have read it and certainly
have not edited it in any way. The above views are not mine.
Please do not assume that I had, in any way, anything to do with
the text above other than in presenting here for others to see as
I feel that it is important for fishermen to see how the
processes involving fisheries management work. I do in fact feel
strongly that the JCAA is on the right track, they are stubbornly
fighting a battle than many of us can only guess as to what is
involved. My confidence in what they are doing is reflected in
the fact that I will post any updates I receive from them here,
without, in any way, altering their content. I am not responsible
for the content.
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