SUMMARY REPORT OF METHODS AND
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR THE 1994
NORTHEAST REGION MARINE RECREATIONAL ECONOMICS SURVEY
CHAPTER 4
SPORTFISHING BY MODE
Often, fishery management tools target specific groups of anglers for marine conservation. In some cases, anglers are targeted by mode of fishing. For example, Amendment VII to the Groundfish Fishery Management Plan in the Northeast has proposed a combined cod plus haddock ten-fish bag limit for shore and private/rental boat anglers, while anglers fishing from party/charter boats are exempted. Knowledge of differences in angler social and demographic characteristics by mode, may help managers better understand the assorted social and economic effects of management on different groups of anglers. Additionally, through understanding angler preferences and attitudes towards regulations, managers will be able to better predict behavior towards regulations and adopt strategies that encourage cooperation. This chapter presents profiles of marine anglers by three distinct modes: (1) shore fishing, (2) private/rental boat fishing, and (3) party/charter boat fishing.[22]
4.1 Demographic and Socio-economic Characteristics of Marine Recreational Anglers
4.1.1 Age
A distribution of mean recreational anglers’ age by mode is presented in Figure 4-1. The largest percentage of anglers from all modes were 36-45 years old (shore=25%, private/rental=27%, party/charter=25%). Anglers age 16-25 fished mostly from party/charter boats, while the oldest anglers (age 66 and over) predominantly fished from shore.
4.1.2 Education
Education may be important in understanding the choices individuals make about the mode of recreational fishing. Education influences peoples’ decisions, and plays a factor in the decision-making process. Figure 4-2 shows the educational breakdown of anglers by mode. High school graduates comprised the largest majority of anglers from all modes (shore=41%, private/rental=42%, party/charter=39%). College graduates moderately preferred party/charter fishing (21%) to shore (17%) and private/rental boat fishing (16%). However, those with post graduate and professional degrees seemed to be indifferent. Essentially, results indicated that anglers were fairly well educated with only minor educational differences across modes.
4.1.3 Ethnicity
At least 85 percent of the anglers shown in Figure 4-3 considered themselves to be white (shore=85%, private/rental=94%, party/charter=88%). The remainder of anglers were mostly black in all modes (shore=8%, private/rental=3%, party/charter=9%), leaving only 7 percent fishing from shore, 3 percent fishing from private/rental boats, and 4 percent fishing on party/charter boats to be of asian, hispanic, or other ethnic origins.
4.1.4 Household Income
Income is one of the most important factors influencing recreational fishing behavior and patterns. A fishermen’s choices are limited and bounded by the extent to which money is available to him/her. For those who have money, there are many alternatives.[23] An individuals mode choice may be one of these alternatives.
A comparison of household income distributions by mode is shown in Figure 4-4. The largest share of household incomes fell between $30,001 and $45,000 for anglers who indicated they were fishing from private/rental boats (26%) and from party/charter boats (27%). The largest percentage of shore anglers’ household incomes fell between $15,001 and $30,000 (28%). Consequently, shore anglers comprised the largest share of anglers with the lowest annual incomes; thirty-five percent of shore anglers indicated an annual household income of less than $30,000.
4.1.5 Years of Experience
Figure 4-5 illustrates the number of years anglers have been saltwater fishing by mode. Private/rental boat anglers comprised the largest share of experienced anglers, with over 27 percent indicating over 30 years of saltwater fishing experience and only 15 percent indicating less than 5 years of experience.[24] In contrast, a relatively large share of party/charter boat fishermen indicated more than 30 years of experience (20%), but over 25 percent indicated less than 5 years of experience. On the other hand, shore fishing comprised a large share of experienced (>30 years - 23%) and inexperienced anglers (0-5 years - 20%).
Results indicate that the majority of the experienced anglers fished from shore and private/rental boats, while many of the relatively inexperienced fishermen spent their time fishing from party/charter boats.
4.1.6 Expenditures
Recreational fishermen incur certain costs or expenditures. Included among these costs are lodging expenditures, travel expenditures, and boat fees. Figure 4-6 illustrates these costs by mode for recreational anglers who participated in the economic survey.
Party/charter and shore anglers that personally incurred lodging expenses (Lodging (>0)) spent approximately $60.00 per night.[25] On the other hand, private/rental boat anglers spent substantially less, only $41.00 on average. Comparatively, across all overnight anglers (Lodging (all)) party/charter per night lodging costs were the highest ($33.00), followed by shore anglers ($29.00), and then private/rental boat anglers ($17.00).
Of the expenditures illustrated, boat fees comprised a large portion of total expenses. In fact, boat fees represented 70 percent of total expenditures[26] for anglers fishing from private/rental boats and 53 percent for those fishing from party/charter boats. Boat fees averaged $60.00 per trip on private/rental boats and $52.00 on party/charter boats.
One-way travel expenses[27] represented the smallest portion of expenditures on average, for all the modes. Nevertheless, average party/charter one-way travel expenditures ($14.00) were almost twice as high as private/rental boat expenditures ($8.00) and larger than shore expenditures ($9.00). If travel return costs are equal to arrival costs, average round-trip travel expenses would approximate $28.00 for party/charter anglers, $16.00 for private/rental boat anglers, and $18.00 for shore anglers.
4.1.7 Trip Length
The majority of anglers in all modes indicated they were on one-day fishing trips (Figure 4-7).[28] Nonetheless, approximately one-fourth of shore and party/charter anglers were on trips in which they spent/or planned to spend at least one night away from their residence. In contrast, only 13 percent of private/rental boat anglers indicated the day of fishing was part of a longer trip.
4.2 Preferences for Marine Recreational Fishing and Fishing Regulation Methods
4.2.1 Recreational Anglers Stated Preferences for Fishing Site Characteristics
Figure 4-8, Figure 4-9, Figure 4-10, Figure 4-11, Figure 4-12, and Figure 4-13 illustrate recreational anglers first and second stated preferences for fishing site characteristics by mode. “Convenience,” “better catch rates,” and “always go there” were the main reasons why angler chose fishing sites across all modes. However, one-third of party/charter fishermen did not choose any of the preestablished responses as their first stated preference for fishing site characteristics.[29] Unfortunately, these responses were coded as the category ‘other’ and were not specified. Site choice may also be conditional upon mode accessibility. A substantial percentage of shore anglers indicated “access to a pier, jetty, bridge or beach/bank” as either their first or second reason for site choice (17%), and many private/rental boat anglers preferred access to a boat ramp (29%).
Findings indicate that although access to certain kinds of fishing sites are important to shore anglers and that many private/rental boat anglers fish at sites because of access to a boat ramp, the majority of anglers chose fishing sites based upon convenience and better catch rates.
4.2.2 Recreational Anglers’ Ranking of Fishing Compared to Other Outdoor Activities
Illustrated in Figure 4-14, the majority of anglers interviewed in all modes ranked marine recreational fishing as their most important outdoor activity during the past two months (shore=63%, private/rental=70%, party/charter=52%).[30] The high importance of recreational fishing associated with private boat anglers may be attributable to substantial operational costs. Boat owners may take more fishing trips to warrant the costs of operation. Subsequently, while the majority of party/charter boat fishermen indicated fishing was their most important outdoor activity, 33 percent of these respondents declared fishing to be only one of many outdoor activities during the past two months. Since party/charter trips are often part of longer vacations (i.e., not the sole purpose of the trip), this result can be expected. Over 60 percent of the shore anglers, on the other hand, indicated fishing was their most important outdoor activity during the last two months. Shore fishing may be considered more important than other outdoor activities because it is often convenient, inexpensive, and easily accessible.
4.2.3 Recreational Anglers’ Ratings of Reasons for Marine Fishing
The survey revealed that party/charter, private/rental, and shore anglers have similar reasons for participating in marine fishing. Table 4-1 summarizes the ratings respondents assigned to 7 reasons for fishing. Over 60 percent of the anglers in all modes indicated the following reasons were very important: to spend quality time with friends and family (party/charter=84.0%, private/rental=84.8%, shore=81.6%); to enjoy nature and the outdoors (party/charter=84.7%, private/rental=88.4%, shore=87.7%); to experience the excitement or challenge of sport fishing (party/charter=61.7%, private/rental=67.8%, shore=66.4%); and to relax and escape from my daily routine (party/charter=83.0%, private/rental=84.9%, shore=85.8%). The reasons that the majority of anglers said were not important were: to catch fish to eat (shore=39.3%); to be alone (party/charter=59.6%, private/rental=59.7%, shore=48.7%); and to fish in a tournament or when citations are available. Private/rental boat anglers, and those fishing from party/charter boats rated to catch fish to eat as being somewhat important by the majority of anglers (PR=40.6%, PC=41.0%).
In general, there were no large differences across modes. Although catching fish to eat was considered somewhat more important by party/charter and private/rental boat anglers, results indicate consistent non-catch related reasons for fishing across modes. 4.2.4 Recreational Anglers’ Ratings of Fishing Regulation Methods
Table 4-2 portrays anglers opinions regarding four widely applied regulatory methods.[31] Anglers in all modes indicated strong support for the regulatory measures. Minimum size limits generated the strongest support, followed by catch limits, seasonal closures, and finally, area limits. Although party/charter, private/rental, and shore respondents did offer varying degrees of support for each of a selection of regulatory measures, general support existed across all modes. Support was highest for more common regulatory methods currently being implemented in New England and the Mid-Atlantic (e.g., size and bag limits), than for area and seasonal closures.