Page 79 - Clackamas County Watertourism Strategic Plan. Final.v3

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR WATER-BASED TOURISM IN CLACKAMAS COUNTY, OREGON THE MARKET
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Approximately 73% of first time buyers intend to purchase a license every year
but only 32% do. In Oregon, only an estimated 7.9% of annual anglers purchase
a license in five out of five years, and only 19% purchased a license in 3 out of 3
years. Nonetheless, 45% of this same sample reported fishing with a frequency
of 9 to 16 days per year. Basically, annual fishing license sales are not a good
indicator of fishing interest or participation rates for residents. However, daily
licenses sales from non-residents is a reliable indicator since it would be rare
(and odd) for a tourist to purchase a fishing license and not go fishing.

A sales data graph that includes 2009 to today will show a precipitous drop due
to the great recession. However, graphing sales that excludes this economic
crisis (starting from 2011) paints a different picture. The overall trend is
increasing with an annual average growth rate of 1% over the last 5 years. So,
considering that most anglers purchase a license only once in every 5 to 10
years, and that licenses sales are slowly increasing over that last 5 years, it
would be incorrect to conclude from licenses sales that fishing is a dying sport
in Oregon. When you combine this information with the results of the
statewide water-based recreation survey conducted in this study, fishing is alive
and well in Oregon.

Nationwide, fishing also one of America’s favorite outdoor activities and is
3 Day Licenses
growing in popularity. Although participation may have dropped from past
18,000
decades, it has grown consistently in the past 6 years. We don’t know if fishing
16,000
is declining relative to other outdoor sports or if the nation is collectively
14,000
12,000
spending less time outdoors. While 13% of the nation goes fishing every year,
10,000
which alone is a large number of people, it actually understates how popular
8,000
fishing really is, because most anglers do not fish every year. The American
6,000
4,000
Sportfishing Association and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies found
2,000
0 that less than 15% of Americans who had fished in the previous five years had
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
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fished in all five of those years. The angler who fishes every year is rare .
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