Fishing and Boating Research
To better understand recreational boating and fishing and aquatic resource stewardship, RBFF works with a variety of market research and consulting firms. Below are the final reports for a number of market research studies commissioned by RBFF.
Select a year from the dropdown to jump to the reports published within that year.
September2024
Psychology of Churn Research
In 2023, a historic 57.7 million anglers aged six and above went fishing. Additionally, 19-percent of the U.S. population participated in fishing, its highest rate in 16 years. However, over 23% of anglers lapsed out of fishing in 2023. Boating participation is facing similar headwinds. It is estimated that 85 million Americans went boating in 2023; which is down from about 100 million in 2020. If the number of lapsed participants can be reduced, total participation rates will soar, generating more revenue for industries and more funds for government conservation efforts.
Recognizing this, RBFF initiated a comprehensive, multi-phase research project to better understand the churn rate for fishing and boating participants. The research identified the drivers of attrition among lapsed participants, leveraging behavioral science frameworks to dissect attitudes, motivations, barriers, and beliefs.
Psychology of Churn Research Overview
Infographic
See more on the Psychology of Churn (Research & Retention Strategies)
July 2024
2024 Special Report on Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation through 2023 by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted annually by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
July 2023
Special Report on Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted annually by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
April 2023
Conservation Study
This continuing research is aimed at learning more about the connection consumers are making between fishing, boating and conservation. Conducted every three years, the study’s findings measure RBFF’s progress in driving awareness of the conservation efforts resulting from fishing and boating participation. RBFF will utilize data from the survey to inform actions that continue resonating with consumers.
January 2023
Women’s Spending for Sportfishing
This Southwick Associates report was conducted to provide statistically reliable information regarding women’s annual spending on fishing tackle and services, and the additional sales that women could generate at varying levels of participation growth.
Underneath the Wave of Women Fishing
Women represent an important emerging audience for the fishing and boating industry. To grow this demographic, RBFF and Ipsos conducted research among active, lapsed, and non-angler women to understand active female anglers' mindsets and drivers, and what challenges exist to increasing participation.
Research Presentation
Infographic
July 2022
2022 Special Report On Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted annually by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
March 2022
Enhancing the Boat Ownership Experience
RBFF, the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas (MRAA), and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) commissioned Left Brain, Marketing, Inc. to conduct a comprehensive study to better identify and understand challenges associated with boat shopping and ownership experiences.
Final Report
October 2021
Angler R3 Program Funding Needs Assessment: Survey Results and Scorecard
State agencies, organizations and industry partners with grant programs are often faced with the challenge of determining which angler R3 projects to fund. With grant support from the Multistate Conservation Grant Program, RBFF and Responsive Management conducted an extensive review of research, and surveyed state agency R3 coordinators and academics with angler R3 expertise, in order to develop specific and objective criteria for awarding grants. The final report includes research findings and implications, as well as a scorecard to assist the R3 community in scoring proposals and prioritizing angler R3 programs to fund and support. The scorecard is also available in Excel to utilize in scoring grant proposals.
Final Report
Scorecard Template
June 2021
2021 Special Report On Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted annually by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
Return to TopDecember 2020
Identifying New Anglers & Boaters And Determining Tactics For Retention
Due to a spike in fishing license purchasers and boaters in the 2020 season, research was conducted to understand newcomers to the sport. This report was conducted by RBFF and Ipsos and built upon last year's Marketing Segmentation Study.
Final Report
Infographic
Shareable Content & Media Resources
July 2020
2020 Special Report On Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
June 2020
Online Fishing License Assessment
The rise of e-commerce and m-commerce over the last two decades has completely transformed the way Americans shop. With each passing year, more and more consumers are purchasing a broader range of goods and services online with the idea that it is more convenient and less expensive than visiting an actual storefront. Online shoppers were asked to purchase a fishing license from their state and record the experience. The goal of this study was to track improvement and progress over time since the last research study in 2012.
Return to TopNovember 2019
Multicultural Fishing Research
The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF) has identified the multicultural consumer as a key opportunity for growth of fishing participation. These populations are the fastest-growing but their incidence of fishing is lower. Growing the fishing and boating participation rates among multicultural consumers is critical to the RBFF mission of keeping recreational fishing alive in the US.
This research was conducted among target ethnic populations to better understand the needs, motivations, barriers and decision making factors related to fishing and boating, in addition to media preferences and receptivity to fishing communications.
October 2019
Actionable Strategies for Angler Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3)
Demographic trends have important implications on fishing participation. With grant support from the Multistate Conservation Grant Program, RBFF and Responsive Management conducted national surveys and focus groups with U.S. residents and R3 professionals to determine how changing demographics and new technologies impact the ability of agencies to recruit, retain and reactivate anglers. This R3 research provides key findings and recommendations for angler R3.
Fishing & Boating Marketing Segmentation Study
There is a large opportunity to grow new fishing & boating participants among those with interest but who don’t yet participate. Anglers & boaters reflect the overall population demographically, which is why it is so important to define motivational segments to provide targeting and implications for how to message. This research outlines the segmentation of current and potential fishing & boating audiences in the US.
July 2019
2019 Special Report on Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
June 2019
State Fishing License Sales Trends Analysis
Analysis of state and national trends in fishing license sales confirming the effectiveness of recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) efforts on growth. Conducted by RBFF in partnership with the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), this research was carried out by Southwick Associates and looks at license data and participation rates for 12 states over a 25-year period.
April 2019
Conservation Study
This continuing research is aimed at understanding consumers’ awareness of fishing licenses and their linkage to conservation. A key objective of this research is to determine if conservation is a main message to be leveraged in brand communications. Additional consumer messages are also tested to see if they might better drive licensing behavior among specific outdoor enthusiast audiences.
Read the Full Report hereJanuary 2019
High School Fishing Club Survey
During the past several years, the angling community has implemented multiple strategies to recruit, retain and reactivate anglers. High school fishing clubs and programs are a rapidly growing part of the R3 picture. While thousands of youth are participating, the degree to which these programs are recruiting new anglers or reinforcing fishing as a lifelong activity (retention) are not known. If additional resources are to be invested in high school fishing clubs these questions need to be answered, along with learning how these clubs can best be structured and served to maximize their contributions to RBFF’s “60 in 60” goals. This project provided answers and quantified club members’ level of experience prior to joining clubs, their motivations and other insights to lead strategies that maximize results from these growing programs.
Read the Full Report hereReturn to Top
July 2018
The Future of Hunting and Fishing Project
The Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports, along with support from RBFF and the American Sportfishing Association, commissioned a study with Dr. Loren Chase, of Chase and Chase Consulting, to examine shifts in demographics of cohorts of hunters and anglers through time.
Project Overview
Project Report
Fishing Participation Trend Graph
2018 Special Report on Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
Return to TopAugust 2017
2016 Recreational Boating Participation Study
The study, prepared by QSA Research & Analytics and released by the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), RBFF and Discover Boating, assessed the total number of boaters in the United States. Also included in the study are profiles of key audiences and participation trends.
Email Stephanie Vatalaro for the Final ReportJuly 2017
2017 Special Report on Fishing
Detailed information and trends on fishing participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. The report is conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation.
Return to TopNovember 2016
Recommendations and Strategic Tools for Effective Angler Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) Efforts
Prepared by the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI) and Bob Byrne Consulting, this document is a work product of the partnership between the Aquatic Resources Education Association (AREA) and RBFF. Developed with the support and contributions of the Angler R3 State Agency Working Group, this document provides recommendations and strategic tools to enable state agencies, nongovernment organizations and industry to improve the effectiveness of angler recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) efforts nationally.
October 2016
RBFF-GA New Angler Retention Pilot Program
Prepared by Southwick Associates, this report presents the results of a pilot program conducted by RBFF and the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division to assess the effect of email communication on the retention of first-time fishing license buyers.
July 2016
2016 Special Report on Fishing
Conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation, provides detailed information on participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region.
March 2016
Highlights of Angler Recruitment, Retention and Reactivation (R3) Literature
Prepared by Bob Byrne Consulting for RBFF and the Aquatic Resources Education Association (AREA), this review summarizes recent literature on angler recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3), including angler numbers, behaviors, churn rates, trends, motivations, barriers, potential marketing strategies and other issues that may affect R3 efforts. This literature review is part of a larger RBFF-AREA partnership project, with the Wildlife Management Institute (WMI), to develop angler R3 guidelines to provide a framework for industrywide angler R3 programs.
Final ReportFebruary 2016
RBFF/CAHSS Conservation Study
Produced by RBFF and the Council to Advance Hunting and the Shooting Sports (CAHSS) and conducted by Colle + McVoy and Carbonview Research, this study reveals detailed information on anglers’, boaters’, hunters’ and recreational shooters’ current awareness of the connection between conservation and licenses. This first-time study surveyed a total of 1540 respondents (788 anglers and boaters; 752 hunters and shooting sport participants) and benchmarked participants’ awareness of conservation, knowledge of how licenses and excise taxes fund conservation, and messages that targeted audience groups are most likely to respond to.
Return to TopJuly 2015
RBFF Retail Customer Experience Assessment: Fly Fishing
Conducted by RBFF , AFFTA and Market Viewpoint, LLC., RBFF Retail Customer Experience Assessment: Fly Fishing is an in-depth report examining the current fishing and boating retail consumer shopping experience. The report contains mystery shopper experiences and includes results and opportunities from various demographic and skill-level segments. This is a follow-up to the initial analysis of the fly-fishing retail experience.
July 2015
2015 Special Report on Fishing
Conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation, provides detailed information on participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region.
Return to TopAugust 2014
RBFF Retail Customer Experience Assessment
Conducted by RBFF and Market Viewpoint, LLC., RBFF Retail Customer Experience Assessment is an in-depth report examining the current fishing and boating retail consumer shopping experience. The report contains mystery shopper experiences and includes results and opportunities from various demographic and skill-level segments.
July 2014
2014 Special Report on Fishing
Conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation, provides detailed information on participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region.
May 2014
2014 Insights into First-Time Fishing License Buyers Report
Conducted by Southwick Associates on behalf of RBFF, this survey analysis presents findings regarding first-time fishing license buyers’ motivations for fishing, and their expectations and preferences regarding their fishing experiences.
Return to TopNovember 2013
2013 First-Time Fishing License Buyers Focus Group Report
Conducted by Responsive Management on behalf of RBFF, the focus group research examined the motivations, interests and expectations of first-time fishing license buyers.
August 2013
2013 First-Time Anglers Analysis National Summary Report
Conducted by Southwick Associates on behalf of RBFF, identifies and characterizes the differences between first-time anglers and repeat anglers to provide insights that can inform efforts to retain anglers.
June 2013
The Special Report on Fishing & Boating
Conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation, provides detailed information on participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. This fifth annual report gathered information potential new fishing participants, boating participation and contains information on Hispanic participants.
March 2013
RBFF Online Fishing License Assessment: 2012
Conducted by RBFF and prepared by Southwick Associates, RBFF's Online Fishing License Assessment: 2012 is an in-depth report examining the current non-resident online fishing license purchase process. A white paper summarizing the findings, The Connected Angler: Six Ways to Improve Anglers' Online License Purchase, is also available and includes an assessment of the current state license purchasing processes online, shareable consumer-friendly best practices and prevalent problems, and specific recommendations for widespread implementation.
Return to TopJune 2012
The Special Report on Fishing & Boating
Conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation, provides detailed information on participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. This fourth annual report gathered information on the fishing “churn” rate, potential new fishing participants and boating participation.
Return to TopAugust 2011
The Special Report on Fishing & Boating
Conducted by RBFF and the Outdoor Foundation, provides detailed information on participation by gender, age, ethnicity, income, education and geographic region. This third annual report was expanded to look at the fishing "churn" rate, potential for new fishing participants and the use of technology.
March 2011
Niche Segment Analysis
Conducted by SMARI on behalf of RBFF, explores attitudes and behavior among specific potential niche markets - including women, seniors and ethnic groups - using existing segmentation data.
February 2011
Market Segmentation Research
Conducted by SMARI on behalf of RBFF, identifies key markets for growth in boating and fishing and explores the attitudes and motivations of current participants, factors that influence participation and barriers to participation.
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