Identifying barriers to
participation
in angling
Dr. Elizabeth Oughton
Prof. Jane Wheelock
Dr. Jon Bolland
Dr. Geoff Whitman
Angling in the Rural Environment
Rivers Swale and (Yorkshire) Esk,
and the Ure catchment
The aim:
to analyse the complex network of
natural and socioeconomic relationships
around angling in the river environment,
including institutions of governance
and land use practices at a range of
interconnected scales
Environment Agency Public Attitudes to Angling 2005
What factors would encourage you to
go fishing?
Lapsed anglers
%
New anglers
%
Having someone to go with
34
40
Lower licence fees
26
10
Knowing places to fish close to home
21
13
Places to take children
21
18
If it were easier to use local ponds/lakes
19
13
Better facilities
13
7
More people knew more about fishing
11
8
Hire or borrow tackle
11
10
More fish in rivers and lakes
9
6
Information on how to fish
-
19
EA study suggests a latent demand
Is it demand or supply that limits participation?
How is participation restricted?
Supply of angling opportunities
Good variety of day fishing: small and large commercial
lakes or as a part of a holiday, with a hotel, caravan
or B and B
Swale and Ure catchments:
59 commercial day ticket
153 stillwaters
Some free places to fish on rivers
Social aspects of fishing
• ‘..I don’t go fishing gladly on my own even now. I’m
always ringing up and asking people if they want to
come with me on my stretch.’ (Esk angler)
• Angling clubs vary in the extent to which they
welcome members:
– ‘Well if somebody who resides in the village wants
to be a member and we know that he is not a drug
addict or thief and whatever else, we’d welcome him
with open arms’
– ‘…we’ve never had a closed membership, we’ve
never, some clubs once they got to a number of
members closed the membership down and wouldn’t
let anybody else in or if you wanted to get in it was
waiting for dead men’s shoes, …
What makes a good place for fishing?
Tranquillity, peace,
natural environment
Quiet, rural setting, wildlife, un-spoilt
unpolluted
75
(36%)
Fishing quality/
management
Good restocking policy, variety of fish,
good quality fish, good pegs
63
(31%)
Access, availability of
waters
Access to rivers, short travel times
26
(13%)
On site facilities
Café, secure parking, toilets
24
(12%)
Other
Friendly, cost of day tickets,
organised competitions
18
(8%)
Total
206
What makes a bad place for fishing?
Lack of tranquillity
Dirty, noisy, crowded
69
(36%)
Fish quality
Too few/too many fish,
damaged fish, little variety
36
(19%)
Management of fishing
environment
Unsafe, crowded pegs, poor
maintenance
32
(17%)
Poor access
19
(10%)
Poor facilities
Lack of facilities, too
commercial, greedy owners
16
(8%)
Presence of other non anglers
Dogs, kids, cyclists, boats and
others not fishing
10
(5%)
Other
Over priced, silly rules, bad
sportsmanship
10
(5%)
Encouraging greater participation
• Provision of a range of different types of
angling opportunities
• Natural environment, peace and wildlife
are very important to anglers
• Do not underestimate the social aspects of
angling
• ‘Going fishing’
doesn’t
necessarily
mean ‘getting
away from it
all’!