Angler Lifestyle Analysis
Who fishes? Who is likely to become a fishing “drop out?”
A joint effort between the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) examined state fishing license data to help state fishery agencies and industry learn more about their customers.
License records for 15 states were closely analyzed to identify the type of person more or less likely to buy licenses—and therefore increase or decrease their fishing activity—and who is more likely to upgrade or downgrade their license purchases. Lifestyle data, which reports the common lifestyle characteristics of people living on the same block as the license buyer, are appended to each license record examined. By adding in such data and grouping people together based on common characteristics (type of profession, family status, rural/suburban and other factors), a clearer picture emerges about the types of people more or less likely to fish.
Below are links to the final report as well as the individual state reports. This project was funded by a grant from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Multi-State Grant program, submitted and managed jointly by ASA and AFWA’s Technology and Data Utilization Committee. For more information, contact Rob Southwick, Southwick Associates.
AFWA-ASA 2001–2005 Fishing License Analysis Technical Report
This technical report presents the full national and regional results plus methodology. The study’s major finding relates to the “churn” rate or how often individuals purchase fishing licenses. Only one in five anglers bought a license every year and most only bought a license once or twice in the years covered by the study—2001 to 2005. Adobe Reader™ is required.
ASA-AFWA Fishing 2001–2005 License Analysis Summary Report
This document summaries the major finding of the study. Presented are the research highlights, the needs and applications for this type of research. Adobe Reader™ is required.
Arkansas
Colorado
Florida
Idaho
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
Ohio
Tennessee
Vermont
Arkansas
Rural and small town neighborhoods dominated by blue-collar residents purchase the largest share of licenses in Arkansas, followed by senior citizens. License purchases are decreasing for all major segments of Arkansas’s population. Only 9 percent of Arkansas’s license buyers bought a license in four or five of the study years, giving Arkansas one of the lower license renewal rates.
Colorado
Colorado has a higher rate of non-resident license sales than many
other states with over 30 percent of all customers from out-of-state.
Like other states, Colorado also has a low percentage of customers
who annually renew their licenses. Over 64 percent of Colorado's customer
base purchased a license once or twice in the past five years, while
23 percent bought a license in four or five of the past five years.
Florida
Residents buy 1.9 saltwater licenses for each freshwater license sold, and one-third
of all licenses sold are bought by non-residents. Affluent anglers, which are
generally anglers with a household income 20 percent greater than the national
average, are more likely to prefer saltwater fishing.
Idaho
While residents living in rural areas (defined as low density areas
located outside of major metropolitan areas) still make up the largest
block of Idaho’s
resident license sales, their participation is dropping. The top 15 segments
(out of 65) in terms of growth in the number of licenses purchased annually
are from suburban and urban neighborhoods.
Kentucky
Like most states, Kentucky’s rural residents consume a larger share of
state fishing licenses compared to suburban and urban residents. However,
rural segments of Kentucky's license customer base are shrinking faster than
suburban or urban segments. This constitutes a significant threat to Kentucky's
license revenue streams. Rural residents are also more likely to buy a license
year after year compared to suburban and urban residents who are less likely
to buy licenses in consecutive years. This means a loss of one rural angler
will likely have greater long-term revenue consequences compared to the loss
of a suburban or urban license customer.
Maryland
Suburban anglers are the greatest source of license sales in Maryland. Combined with urban anglers, these two groups represent two-thirds of all state license customers. These groups have incomes greater than the state average. However, license sales to suburban anglers have declined nearly 11 percent and the rate was even lower for urban anglers. Only 16 percent of Maryland’s license customers bought a license in four or five of the past five years.
Michigan
In Michigan, people from neighborhoods with incomes below the state average and from rural areas were more likely to buy a fishing license. Compared to other states, unmarried people had a greater likelihood of buying a fishing license. Michigan had a slightly better percentage than other states of customers buying a license in four or five of the past five years: 22.6 percent.
Minnesota
The only one of the four states to show overall license sales increases
since 2001; Minnesota’s revenues have not kept pace as a greater
number of anglers downgraded to lower priced licenses than upgraded.
This trend could also affect tackle purchases, though additional work
would be needed to determine this.
Montana
Montana is a major importer of anglers, with 40 percent of sales contributed by non-residents. Compared to other states, sales to residents are basically holding steady. Resident and non-resident license buyers have different profiles. Resident customers are generally rural, reflecting the state’s rural nature. Non-residents are generally from suburban and urban areas and have much higher incomes. These differences likely result in different expectations regarding desired fishing experiences and opportunities. Resident license sales are growing faster than non-resident sales.
Nebraska
Nebraska is experiencing a steady drop in anglers. A minimum of eight percent
of anglers bought a license in all four of the study years (2002-2005). License
sales are dropping faster in rural areas compared to suburban areas, which may
reflect a general population shift and negative trends in some of the state’s
most important rural fisheries. Residents are also much more likely to downgrade
to lower-priced licenses compared to upgrading their purchases.
Nevada
The largest share of Nevada's license sales are in rural areas. However,
the percentage of licenses sold to rural customers is gradually decreasing.
This may be attributed in part to Nevada's growing suburban and urban
populations. Urbanization is a factor in the purchase of fishing licenses.
This trend may represent a threat to the long-term public support for
fisheries and sportfishing. There are some segments of the suburban
and more affluent neighborhoods showing significant increases in the
numbers of licenses purchased. Future marketing efforts could focus
on these trends. In the past five years, 72 percent of potential customers
bought a license only one or two times during that time frame. Efforts
to encourage anglers to renew their licenses could pay dividends.
New Hampshire
Of the four states examined, New Hampshire showed the largest decrease
in license sales. Only one in six anglers bought a license in each
of the five years studied. However, this statistic is not much
different than the other three states examined, with one in four or five
buying a license every year. The New Hampsire link downloads a
zip file that contains three files with detailed results for the
New Hampshire analysis.
Ohio
Three-quarters of Ohio’s 2004-2005 license customers come from small towns, have modest to above average incomes and are often retirees. Members of the top-ranked “Factories and Farms” group are not only more likely to buy a license than the average resident, but by far buy more licenses than any other group and possess almost one quarter of the total license market. Of residents who bought a license in Ohio during the study years, over 60 percent of license customers only bought a license in one or two of those years.
Tennessee
Over the past five years, Tennessee’s license sales have decreased. A license price increase after 2004 appears to have accelerated the decline. Rural residents are more likely to buy a license. The more urban a neighborhood; the less likely its residents will buy a license. Some suburban-oriented segments of Tennessee’s population are showing increased purchases of licenses.
Vermont
One-third of Vermont’s licenses are purchased by non-residents. Rural residents with below-average incomes, from rural areas and married with families, are more likely to buy licenses. Even though Vermont has few urban-oriented neighborhoods, people living in such neighborhoods are less likely to buy a license. During the study years, only 18 percent of Vermont’s resident customers bought a license in four or five of those years.
