In a participation report just released by the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, 47 million Americans went fishing last year, an increase from 46.2 million in 2011. 10.2 million new or returning anglers were tallied, but 9.4 million people stopped fishing, giving us 870,000 new anglers in 2012.
”We’re extremely pleased to see the number of first-time anglers and overall anglers, continue to rise,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “Working closely with our industry and state agency partners, our collective effort is yielding well deserved results. Increased participation, in both fishing and boating, leads to increased license sales, and boat registrations, key sources for funding state fish and wildlife conservation programs.”
Some more stats from the study:
- Americans made one billion fishing outings in 2012, averaging 21.3 fishing days per person.
- Forty-one percent of first-time fishing participants were female, bringing the total of female anglers to 34.4 percent.
- Adults 18 and older with children in their households participate in fishing at higher levels than adults without children.
- Fly fishing had the highest rate of first-time participants with 20.5 percent.
The rest of the 2013 Special Report on Fishing and Boating by the RBFF can be found here.
i bet its got something to do with reality tv shows like d*******t c****h, w****d t***a, top h****r, making it a trend, which is bad not good……