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 with3440 Lower licence fees2610 Knowing places to fish close to home2113 Places to take children2118 If it were easier to use local ponds/lakes1913 Better facilities137 More people knew more about fishing118 Hire or borrow tackle1110 More fish in rivers and lakes96 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 times26 (13%) On site facilitiesCafé, secure parking, toilets24 (12%) OtherFriendly, cost of day tickets, organised competitions 18 (8%) Total206

What makes a bad place for fishing? Lack of tranquillityDirty, noisy, crowded69 (36%) Fish qualityToo few/too many fish, damaged fish, little variety 36 (19%) Management of fishing environment Unsafe, crowded pegs, poor maintenance 32 (17%) Poor access19 (10%) Poor facilitiesLack of facilities, too commercial, greedy owners 16 (8%) Presence of other non anglersDogs, kids, cyclists, boats and others not fishing 10 (5%) OtherOver 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’!