Recruiting and Retaining Resident Sport Fishing License Buyers

[aktally]

I thought this article found in F&G's employee newsletter might be of interest since this topic was discussed quite a bit under the late run sockeye thread. The article begins on pg 8-9.

http://146.63.60.51/Forms/otolithvol5num2.pdf

 

[tvfinak]

Gramps will disagee!

Gramps will disagee!

I don't know how Gramps will handle this one but it will be interesting in light of the many posts where said I was wrong in that sales were "flat" and overall the industry was in trouble!

MANY THANKS FOR POSTING THIS ONE!

 

[tvfinak]

Link is stil down

Link is stil down

Not sure why it can't be addressed. I did print the whole thing out in color however before it went down.

If it isn't up tomorrow I'll scan the whole thing and send it to anyone that wants to see it. Gramps gets a free copy first!

 

[Brian M]

Can we start out a new thread without it getting personal in the first few posts? The other 600 post nightmare is beyond repair as far as personal comments go, but perhaps we could start all new threads without it.

 

[Grampyfishes]

tvfinak, I'm looking forward to the data, and how it relates to your original comments....

 

[yukon]

Brian, how about keeping those annoying multiple multiquote messages to a minimum as well.

 

[tvfinak]

Link is back up!

Link is back up!

It is now working again.

In view of the beating I took on the other thread this should be interesting!

 

[tvfinak]

Sorry

Sorry

I've tried very hard to keep from getting personal even as others were constantly attacking me personally.

This one was just too good to pass up!

Can we start out a new thread without it getting personal in the first few posts? The other 600 post nightmare is beyond repair as far as personal comments go, but perhaps we could start all new threads without it.

 

[yukon]

I can't get the link to work. Is it possible to cut and paste the article into a post?

 

[aktally]

Here is the article. I had to scan the article and then convert it so there may be some conversion errors that I missed.

Recruiting and Retaining Resident Sport Fishing License Buyers
By Stacie Hall
ADF&G Otolith – September 2008

While doing some research for this article, Google produced an editorial that literally made me jump back in my chair. The first line read: "Fund for Animals, a national animal protection group, celebrated National Hunting and Fishing Day on Saturday, September 27 (2003), as the ‘beginning of the end' of killing animals for sport." They went on to cite the 7% decline in the number of hunters between 1998 and 2001.

Extreme words from an extreme group, but across the nation, folks on both sides of the argument have pointed out a growing decline in the number of people participating in hunting and fishing. Every couple of years the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducts their 'National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Associated Recreation' looking at trends in participation and expenditures on those activities. In 2006 they reported that nationally there was a statistically significant decline in anglers (12%) from 2001 to 2006. Other research on the subject points in the same direction: downward trends in participation.

Here in Alaska, we often take comfort in the fact that we're, well, just different when compared to the rest of the lower 48. So, are we staying ahead of the curve, or lagging behind too?

As it turns out, resident sport fishing license sales in Alaska are flat-lining. Based on an analysis of the past five years, roughly 175,000 Alaska residents purchase a sport fishing license every year. If sales are stable, what's the concern? Turns out, license sales don't tell the whole story. Alaska's population is growing and license sales to residents aren't keeping pace.

Not only that, but we also appear to have a significant number of anglers who "lapse". About 32,000 residents are considered "lapsed anglers" or individuals who purchased a license consecutively for 2, 3 or 4 years, or some combination of those years; but then didn't in 2007. To put it simply, about 18% of residents who buy a license somewhat regularly, don't necessarily do so every year. The analysis also showed that an additional 36,000 anglers, all likely first time resident license buyers, purchased a license in 2006, but chose not to again in 2007.

A decline or continued shift away from sport fishing practices could create strong repercussions within our Division, specifically in our ability to protect, manage and improve Alaska's abundant and diverse recreational fisheries resources. License sales, and their matching federal money, provide funding for us to accomplish our work.

To combat this shift, the Sport Fish Division is partnering with the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) in a three year project aimed at recruiting and retaining resident sport fishing license buyers. The project is also intended to raise awareness of the connection between fishing license sales and the conservation of fisheries and aquatic resources in Alaska. We are one of 30+ states that have partnered with RBFF to participate in their national lapsed resident angler recruitment campaign and are trying out communication tools provided by RBFF as a part of our participation. These tools, such as reminder postcards, radio ads and a website, will help us to reach anglers with the same consistent messages from multiple sources so keep an eye and ear out for them and let us know what you think.

The project is innovative in that it takes a marketing and business approach to informing and educating the public. Part of the goal is to get people to understand that buying a license isn't just more “paperwork" that we arbitrarily place on the population and to better understand that by buying their fishing license every year they become stewards of Alaska's immense fisheries and aquatic resources. There are a lot of questions we hope to get in sights into such as are people who lapse young families with children or folks closer to retirement? Is some of the lapsing due to military turnover?

Most likely there is a very complex set of factors at play when it comes to lapsing Of decreases in participation. A variety of publications and surveys, including reports from our own Sport Fish Division, have cited everything from a lack of time due to work and family obligations, lack of activity partners, an increase in single parents, the price of gas, and overcrowding in favorite fishing locales. Some research evens points to an overall shift in society away from nature-based recreation; including sport fishing which generally has one of the highest per capita participation rates compared to other forms of outdoor activity, in favor of electronic media and entertainment.

Some might argue that it’s futile to try and encourage people to take up the sport. But can we really afford to say nothing at all? Even if we aren’t saying anything, you can bet that someonw else is. PETA's (People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals) 'Fish Empathy Project’ touts: “Once you close your tackle box and open your mind, you'll be able to enjoy the beauty of our lakes, rivers, and oceans without contributing to animal suffering or environmental destruction. When you put down your fishing pole and pick up a fish friendly hobby, everyone wins!"

Our vision statement in the Sport Fish Division strategic plan begins by saying that we believe sport fishing is a valuable component of the Alaska economy and contributes to the well-being of Alaskans. Let's not have this, or any other year, be ‘the beginning of the end' for fishing,

 

[tvfinak]

Link is up and down

Link is up and down

I got into it again this morning - it must have its ups and downs. The link is good when it works.

Please keep trying - there is a lot of great information and pictures besides the article on license sales.

 

[Grampyfishes]

"As it turns out, resident sport fishing license sales in Alaska are flat-lining." - Stacie Hall

Resident sport fishing license sales have been referenced and posted here repeatedly. They do not come from a newletter, but directly from the State of Alaska, Department of Administration, License Statistics:

2007: 185,489 $3,898,487
http://www.admin.adfg.state.ak.us/admin/license/2007info.pdf

2006: 183,982 $3,824,433
http://www.admin.adfg.state.ak.us/admin/license/2006info.pdf

2005: 191,022 $2,537,888
http://www.admin.adfg.state.ak.us/admin/license/2005info.pdf

2004: 191,373 $2,539,042
http://www.admin.adfg.state.ak.us/admin/license/2004info.pdf

2003: 190,751 $2,495,762
http://www.admin.adfg.state.ak.us/admin/license/2003info.pdf

2002: 179,885
2001: 173,944
2000: 173,763
1999: 169,291
1998: 170,295
http://www.admin.adfg.state.ak.us/admin/license/10yr2007sold.pdf

Clearly in the last decade there has been an 8.2% increase in resident license sales (185,489 in 2007 vs. 170,295 in 1998). This is contrary to tvfinak's statement that resident sport fishing license sales are declining and flat over the last decade (even though he has admitted several times that they are in fact increasing).

In the last five years (what this newsletter references) resident license sales increased from prior year sales in all but 2 of those years (2005 and 2006). In the five years preceding them, all but one year (1999) increased from prior year sales.

Although Alaska's increase in resident license sales over the last decade is well within range of its population growth over the same time period, population growth is not directly proportional to the number of residents who buy sport fish licenses. If population is growing faster than resident sport fishing license sales, all it means is that less people who move to Alaska are fishing. License sales still increased.

This article was written by an individual out of concern for the State's ability to manage and preserve its recreational fisheries. After all, the more fishing licenses ADF&G sells, the more funding they receive. It's hard to support a project if you can't show it's needed. And this newletter helps justify their project with the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, which is aimed at recruiting and retaining license buyers....

"The project is innovative in that it takes a marketing and business approach to informing and educating the public" - Stacie Hall


tvfinak, nothing in this article supports your belief (from the other thread) that resident sport fishing license sales have a flat or declining trend for the last decade....a decade you claim is 7 years and a trend you claim is 2. Your comment there was exaggerated and erroneous, and you have yet to show otherwise.

And nothing in this article relates the number of resident license sales to what you call, "no fish", "few fish", "no opportunity", "small chances of success", and whatever other reasons you would have us believe why people aren't buying fishing licenses. A number of fisheries, an abundance of fish, and plenty of fishing opportunity exists for everyone.

You have repeatedly cried the blues about how dismal Alaska's sportfishery is...apparantly due to a couple of experiences of less crowds on the Kenai/Russian River fishery, and limiting your own opportunities. And you have used that platform to continually point your finger at the commercial fishery as the cause. You propose making a sport fishing priority for the millions and millions of Kenai late-run sockeye, without ever explaining how we would manage them to our State's laws of sustained yield by rod and reel. You propose shutting down commercial fishing on weekends because that's your day off work, referring to them as "walls of death". You propose turning current proven methods of management upside-down. You continue to use doom and gloom ploys like this one; a decline in resident sport fishing license sales, to get yourself more fish, easier. All while the rest of us sportfishermen who actually fish are happy and thankful that we have the best fishery in the world.

Again, if our sport fishery participation is declining, then why are you arguing that we need more fish? According to you we should be lowering our allocations and priorities.

 

[gusdog44]

When you show numbers of licenses sold do you also include the permanent licenses for which there is no charge? I'm sure there are a couple thousand people per year who move out of the buying category and into the "free for life" one. That would then add to the number of local resident licenses as I would bet it is just about a one for one replacement each year and as our population gets older there will be a higher percentage of these permanent permits.......

 

[Grampyfishes]

That's a good point gusdog44.

The statistics include new Permanent Identification Cards issued each year as resident licenses sold. But the ones already issued in prior years (like mine) will not be included (even though I fish). So I'm guessing there could be 4-5 thousand that are compounding each year that aren't accounted for...of course minus those that go away due to death. It would be an interesting age-related statistic to know.

 

[Mark]

.......Again, if our sport fishery participation is declining, then why are you arguing that we need more fish?........

Because while sport fishery participation is down, personal use fishing is up exponentially: 67% in just a few years, and personal use fishermen are required to buy sport fishing licenses, which falsely indicates the sport fishing particpation as flat when it's declining.

More, personal use fishermen are legally contained in a very small fishing area, which results in that habitat being pounded.

 

[Grampyfishes]

Mark, my question to tvfinak that you referenced was clearly in context to sport fishing, not personal use fishing. And this thread, the newsletter article referenced, and tvfinak's argument are about sport fishing, not personal use fishing. If sportfishing participation is down, then we certainly don't need more allocations and higher priorities for it, as tvfinak proposes.

It's not my intention to hijack this thread into a personal use fishing topic. But to address your comments, you can't automatically assume just because a resident purchases a sport fishing license to personal use fish, that he doesn't also sport fish. I believe the majority of residents who personal use fish also sport fish. I know you do. If you have some hard data on how many resident sport fishing licenses are sold to only folks who personal use fish, I would like to see it. But really it doesn't matter where tvfinak's argument is concerned...personal use fishermen must purchase a resident sport fishing license, and they are included in the license sales figures tvfinak is arguing. And those figures show an increase, not decrease, in licenses sold over the last decade.

Some folks expect the Kenai River to become the personal use slut for the entire state of Alaska. I do not agree. She is merely one river and she can't take it. We're already seeing that with pollution, habitat, crowding, lack of facilities, enforcement, and other problems. And this is with a large 5 miles of river being utilized. I have a feeling extending the River further for this fishery would only compound the problems further...conflict with other fisheries, private land owners, ruin even more habitat, and add more people to an already over-crowded situation. We all know this fishery began with little foresight, and I remember telling them just what would happen. Now here we are. And we're duplicating the same scenario with the Kasilof.

We all survived just fine with plenty of fish before the personal use fishery came about in the mid 80's, and in fact we survived better in many ways. People didn't even fish the Kenai sockeye until the 80's. In fact they paid little attention to them. Why all of a sudden, now, do people "need" these fish? The number of wasted fish I see at the dump each spring is a sad sight.

Anyway, at this point you're going to have a hard time convincing anyone that there is a shortage of fish...fisheries are many, fish are abundent, and other opportunities abound. The Kasilof is just a few miles away and it was a great substitute for what the Kenai lacked this year. Certainly not a fish numbers issue from a sportfisherman's view.

 

[Mark]

Mark, my question to tvfinak that you referenced was clearly in context to sport fishing, not personal use fishing. And this thread, the newsletter article referenced, and tvfinak's argument are about sport fishing, not personal use fishing. If sportfishing participation is down, then we certainly don't need more allocations and higher priorities for it, as tvfinak proposes.....

But if personal use fishing is up significantly, personal use fishermen must purchase sport fishing licenses, and personal use harvests are higher than sport fishing harvests, allocations might need to differ to reflect the higher in-river harvests, even if sport fishing effort is down.

.....you can't automatically assume just because a resident purchases a sport fishing license to personal use fish, that he doesn't also sport fish.....

That is correct, and I haven't so assumed that:

1) We are referenced to information that claims that sport fishing effort is down.

2) You dispute that with information that sport fishing license sales here have increased several percentage points

3) I have pointed out that personal use fishing has increased exponentially, and that personal use fishermen must purchase sport fishing licenses

4) That shows that if sport fishing license sales increased, it isn't necessarily because sport fishing effort has increased

....I believe the majority of residents who personal use fish also sport fish. I know you do....

I primarily sport fish for species other than salmon, and since I started personal use fishing, I almost never sport fish for salmon.

.....If you have some hard data on how many resident sport fishing licenses are sold to only folks who personal use fish, I would like to see it.....

If you have some hard data on how many resident sport fishing licenses are sold to folks who actually sport fish, I would like to see it.

....But really it doesn't matter where tvfinak's argument is concerned...personal use fishermen must purchase a resident sport fishing license, and they are included in the license sales figures tvfinak is arguing. And those figures show an increase, not decrease, in licenses sold over the last decade....

That is because personal use fishing has grown exponentially in the past decade, and personal use fishermen are required to purchase sport fishing licenses.

 

[Grampyfishes]

But if personal use fishing is up significantly, personal use fishermen must purchase sport fishing licenses, and personal use harvests are higher than sport fishing harvests, allocations might need to differ to reflect the higher in-river harvests, even if sport fishing effort is down.

The personal use fishery has no allocation. Sonar counts and OEG's are done above the personal use fishery and the lower river sport fishery. Sport fishermen are basically allocated 100K sockeye above the RM 19 sonar (difference in sonar count and OEG). They don't always harvest that allocation. Sport fishing effort includes non-resident. Non-resident license sales are up 27% in the last decade, and sales are up 20% overall.

1) We are referenced to information that claims that sport fishing effort is down.

The reference herein does not claim that. The opinion in the newletter refers to resident sport fishing license sales, not fishing effort. And it does not show that either effort or license sales are down. The data I presented from the State shows that licenses sales have increased over the last decade, both for residents and particularly non-residents.

2) You dispute that with information that sport fishing license sales here have increased several percentage points

I have not disputed or even discussed sport fishing effort. I have disputed tvfinak's erroneous and exaggerated claim that resident sport fishing license sales are flat and declining over the last decade...all 600 posts from the other thread. The data clearly shows that those sales have increased. And I certainly dispute that his supposed claim is due to a shortage of fish. Nothing indicates that.

3) I have pointed out that personal use fishing has increased exponentially, and that personal use fishermen must purchase sport fishing licenses

Personal use is obviously included in resident sport fishing license sales.

You might want to re-think your term "exponentially". While personal use permits have increased considerably over the last decade, I would not go as far as to say they increased "exponentially"...at least not in terms of data and statistics. In fact there were some years where the number of permits acutally decreased and the number of people not fishing their permit increased, and other years where permits only increased slightly.

4) That shows that if sport fishing license sales increased, it isn't necessarily because sport fishing effort has increased

I have not seen a correlation between resident licenses sold over the last decade and sport fishing effort. Just as I have not seen anything saying fishermen who buy a sport fishing license to personal use fish don't also sport fish.

I primarily sport fish for species other than salmon, and since I started personal use fishing, I almost never sport fish for salmon.

You sport fish. And you sport fish for salmon. I can drag out old Pinocchio and reference the post if you insist.

If you have some hard data on how many resident sport fishing licenses are sold to folks who actually sport fish, I would like to see it.

You'll have to find it yourself. I never made that claim, nor did I ever discuss how many folks who bought sport fish licenses actually sport fish.

However, you have tried to make some type of correlation that folks who buy a resident sport fishing license to personal use fish don't also sport fish. So the burden of proof falls back to you on that....

"Because while sport fishery participation is down, personal use fishing is up exponentially: 67% in just a few years, and personal use fishermen are required to buy sport fishing licenses, which falsely indicates the sport fishing particpation as flat when it's declining." - Mark

That is because personal use fishing has grown exponentially in the past decade, and personal use fishermen are required to purchase sport fishing licenses.

Personal use is included in the number of resident sport fishing licenses sold. Like it or not, that's a fact. And you have not shown any proof that those personal use fishermen do not also sport fish.


Again Mark, I pointed out tvfinak's erroneous and exaggerated claim that resident sport fishing license sales have declined and gone flat over the last decade. They have increased. I stand by those facts and data. The other stuff you bring up here you'll have to figure out yourself.