NR-HQ-01-05E

Dhaliwal announces the launch of the 2000 Survey of Recreational Fishing in Canada

January 24, 2001

OTTAWA -- Herb Dhaliwal, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced the launch of the 2000 Survey of Recreational Fishing in Canada.

"This is one of the most comprehensive surveys of recreational fishing conducted in Canada," said Mr. Dhaliwal. "It will be used by fisheries management agencies as a primary source of information on recreational fisheries resources in all provinces and territories."

The 2000 survey, the sixth in a series of such surveys conducted every five years since 1975, is coordinated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in cooperation with all federal, provincial and territorial fisheries management agencies.

Survey questionnaires are being mailed to 86,000 Canadian residents and non-residents by provincial and territorial agencies and DFO over the coming weeks. The purpose of the survey is to obtain reliable, up-to-date information on the importance of the recreational fishery in Canada. Recipients are being asked about their fishing experience, where they fished and how often, what fish they caught and retained, their opinions on specific management issues and the amount of money they spent in pursuit of their fishing activities.

"I invite all anglers who receive questionnaires to spend a few minutes of their time to provide details of their fishing experience," said Mr. Dhaliwal. "The recreational fishery in Canada is an important economic and leisure activity and the data gathered from the survey is key to the success of this industry."

The results of the 1995 survey show that angling in Canada is a preferred outdoors activity. It is estimated that, in 1995, over four million adult anglers fished in 1995 for a total of almost 56 million days and caught over 254 million fish of all species. Of the fish caught, over 140 million (55%) were released. The increased rate of release is indicative of the success of catch and release programs, and is a testament to the importance of conservation to Canada’s anglers. In total, the angling population spent $7.4 billion in Canada in 1995 of which $4.9 billion was directly associated with their sport.

Anglers visiting Canada in 1995 made over three million trips and fished on 58% of the trips they made.

A final report on the survey, with Canada-wide results as well as those for each jurisdiction will be published by the end of the year.

More information on the results of the previous Surveys of Recreational Fishing in Canada is available on the Statistics link of DFO’ s homepage at www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca.