July NewsWaves
Table of Contents
Fishing Participation Up in Key Segments
Good news coming from RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation’s 2016 Special Report on Fishing: fishing remains among the most popular outdoor activities for adults. Another encouraging note, more than 2.5 million people had their very first fishing experience in 2015 and youth and Hispanic participation increased, leading to a total of 45.7 million Americans (15.6 percent of the U.S. population) participating in fishing last year.
The eighth edition of the report details fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geography and includes such findings as:
- Newcomers –
- 2.5 million people had their very first fishing experience in 2015 – up 4% from 2014
- 44% of new participants are youth ages 6-17; 46% are female
- Popular –
- Fishing is the second most popular outdoor activity for adults ages 25+, behind running/jogging/trail running.
- 76 % of fishing participants ages 6+ participate in fishing and another outdoor activity
- Freshwater fishing remains the most popular type of fishing – almost 38 million people – and also had the highest rates of female (34.4%) and youth participants (33%).
- Family-Friendly – Adults with children in their households participated in fishing at higher levels than those without (18.7% vs. 13.3%).
- Youth –
- Youth participation saw a 2% increase overall in 2015, with 6.7 million participants, ages 6 to 12, and 4 million participants, ages 13 to 17.
- Almost 83% of participants fished as a child, making youth participation a powerful motivator for future participation.
- Hispanics –
- The number of Hispanic fishing participants increased 3% in 2015 to 3.4 million.
- Hispanic participants spend 6.2 more days per year fishing than their general market counterparts.
In addition to overall trends in participation, the report also looks at barriers, motivating factors and preferences of key groups, along with opportunities for engaging new audiences.
To download the report, please visit RBFF’s Resource Center. An infographic detailing the top findings is also available.
RBFF, Industry adopting 60 in 60
To counteract the current trend of waning participation, RBFF has embarked on a grand effort: 60 million anglers in 60 months. With this objective, “60 in 60” in short, RBFF hopes to inspire others in the industry to do their part to help realize this aspirational goal, ensuring the future viability of the industry.
At its June board meeting, RBFF, its board of directors and state and industry representatives collaborated to share ideas on how every member of the boating and fishing community can help in reaching 60 in 60. More recently, RBFF was pleased to see important industry partners adopting this ambitious goal at the ICAST tradeshow. During the Industry Breakfast at ICAST, the American Sportfishing Association’s President and CEO, Michael Nussman discussed 60 in 60 and challenged state and industry attendees to do their part in making 60 in 60 a reality.
In the coming months, RBFF will work to finalize its angler and boater R3 (recruitment, retention and reactivation) guidelines through its work with the Aquatic Resources Education of Association and will share the R3 plan with its stakeholders early next year. Reaching the 60 in 60 mark will rely heavily on state and industry partners adopting effective R3 methods, which RBFF will help define, develop and lead the implementation of.
More information on RBFF’s initiatives can be found in the corporate section of Take Me Fishing. A Literature Review of recent R3 pieces that are helping to shape the forthcoming R3 guidelines is also available. For resources to help your organization get involved in the 60 in 60 push, head to the RBFF Resource Center.
Social Influencers Help Reach New Anglers & Boaters
New this year, RBFF has partnered with three social media influencers to help reach a broader range of anglers and boaters, both current and potential. This strategy has proven effective with other brands and preliminary numbers indicate this program successfully generate public awareness of the Take Me Fishing™ brand and fishing and boating as a whole.
The three social media handles, Born Wild, Someday I’ll Learn and Dirtbag Darling are working to create online conversations about the joys of fishing and boating to increase awareness, consideration, trial and participation, as well as inspire occasional anglers, boaters and families with children to get out on the water. These social influencers were carefully selected based on how their current social media following relate to RBFF’s target audience of young people and families who already have an affinity to the outdoors.
Several RBFF-sponsored posts, such as this great video from Dirtbag Darling, have already been well-received by the respective audiences of each of the three social influencers. The campaign has brought in nearly 4 million impressions through the sponsored posts so far, all of which include the Take Me Fishing brand and #FirstCatch to generate awareness of the brand. Throughout the remainder of the summer, additional posts will be made to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and blogs to reach even more potential anglers and boaters.
In addition to this new social media influencer program, RBFF will be kicking off its Así Vamos a Pescar campaign with baseball star, Carlos Correa in early August. The campaign will leverage Correa, the 2015 American League Rookie of the Year, and his family to create fun, inspiring and relatable messages that speak to our target consumer in the Hispanic audience. TV, radio, digital, and social media channels will be utilized to promote the campaign and sweepstakes.
By sharing photos or videos on Twitter or Instagram with #VamosAPescar, consumers will have the chance to win a daily prize of a Vamos A PescarTM-branded Visa Gift Card and Vamos A Pescar-branded baseball cap, a tackle box or baseball autographed by Correa given out on Fridays throughout the Así Vamos a Pescar sweepstakes. One grand prize winner will receive a trip to Orlando, FL.