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Canada

1990 Survey of Recreational Fishing in Canada

Angler Profile

There were 6.6 million active anglers of all ages in Canada in 1990 (Table 1). Of these anglers, 5.5 million were resident anglers (anglers who lived in Canada and who fished in their home province/ territory). The majority of these resident anglers were concentrated in Ontario and Quebec (Table 2), however, the participation rate, that is the proportion of the population taking part in recreational fishing, was highest in the Yukon and Newfoundland. Additionally, over 241,000 non-resident Canadian anglers (persons who lived in the country but who fished outside their home jurisdiction) and almost 877,000 other non-residents (persons who lived outside Canada but fished in the country) actively fished in 1990. British Columbia entertained 47.6% of the non-resident Canadians in both its fresh and salt waters whereas, 71.7% of the non-resident, non-Canadians fished in Ontario.

Anglers under 16, and those under the legal licensing age in certain provinces, made up approximately 26.5% of the total angler numbers. It is probable that the number of anglers under 16 years of age is underestimated because the survey covered, for the most part, only those households with at least one licensed adult angler. Visitors, including those 189,000 Canadians who were licensed to fish outside their home provinces, made up 19.4% of the total adult angler population. Male anglers made up 72% of resident active adult anglers, 85% of Canadian non-residents and 85% of all non-Canadian non-residents.

Approximately 78% of non-resident anglers were foreigners, mainly Americans coming to Canada from the East North Central, West North Central and Mid-Atlantic census regions of the United States (Figure 1). The remaining anglers were Canadians who fished outside their home provinces, with 63.4% coming from the prairie provinces (Table 3).

Fishing Effort

Recreational fishing in Canada is a major recreational activity. Close to one in every five Canadians fished in 1990 and one out of every seven anglers was a visitor to this country.

Adult anglers fished a total of approximately 67 million days in Canada in 1990 (Table 4). Almost half (46.7%) of these days were spent in Ontario with Quebec second at 20.8%. Ninety percent of this effort was expended by Canadian anglers fishing within their respective jurisdictions, while only 2% of this effort was expended by Canadians visiting other provinces and 8% by other non-resident anglers visiting Canada. Resident anglers fished an average of 16 days, while non-resident Canadians and visiting non-residents fished an average of 6.8 and 7.5 days respectively. Most of this fishing pressure (93%) took place in freshwater.

Harvest

In 1990, anglers caught over 300 million fish of all species and retained almost 157 million of them (Table 5 and Table 6). Resident anglers caught 81% of the fish harvested in 1990 and they took, on average almost 45 fish each. Non-resident Canadians harvested 20 fish each in other jurisdictions, while visiting foreign anglers retained 60 fish each.

Almost half (49.3%) of all fish caught were caught in the province of Ontario, however, the overall proportion of fish retained was only 41% indicating that catch and release efforts were working proportion of fish retained was only 41% indicating that catch and release efforts were working effectively in Ontario. All provinces west of Ontario also show a lower overall percentage of fish kept than caught, whereas in the eastern provinces, the opposite is true.

The total weight of fish kept by anglers was almost 69 thousand tonnes (154 million pounds). If we compare the weight of the fish instead of the number of fish, Ontario's share drops by almost 12% whereas B.C. tidal anglers increase their share by 10%.

In terms of species harvested (Figure 2), trout accounted for 29% of all fish retained, followed by smelt (16%), walleye (13%), perch (12%), northern pike (6%) and bass (5%). For both non-resident groups, walleye was the most harvested species accounting for 32% of the foreign anglers catch and 26% of the Canadians catch.

On average, anglers retained 52% of the fish they caught. Resident anglers kept 56% of the fish they caught; non-resident Canadians, 42%; and other non-residents, 32%. In general, anglers kept a higher proportion of smelt (95%), cod (90%), mackerel (88%) and sockeye (83%) and a lower percentage of bass (23%), grayling (27%) and pike (29%).

Non-resident Trip Characteristics

Non-resident anglers made almost three million trips in Canada for all reasons and fished on 69%, or 2 million of their trips (Table 7).

Non-resident Canadians fished on only 44% of their trips to other jurisdictions, while visitors to Canada fished on 81% of their trips.

A total of 12.7 million days were spent in all jurisdictions by non-resident anglers, with just over half (52.7%) of these days being spent in Ontario. Non-resident anglers fished in all jurisdictions for 7 million of these days (55%), with non-residents of Canada accounting for 5.7 million of the days and Canadian non-residents for 1.3 million.

Day trips for fishing accounted for over 38.3% of all fishing trips in 1990, with non-residents of Canada having a proportionately higher percentage of day trips than Canadians visiting other jurisdictions.

Canadians fishing outside their jurisdictions chose Ontario 20% of the time with Saskatchewan a close second at 18%. B.C. tidal waters accounted for 23% of their days spent on trips while the non-tidal portion of the province placed second with 20%. As for the percentage of total days fished, five jurisdiction shared between 14.8% and 20% each of these days. They are: Quebec, B.C. freshwater and tidal waters, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Ontario accounted for 80% of all non-resident, non-Canadian anglers' trips, 71% of their days spent in Canada and 77% of their days fished. The second most popular area was in B.C. tidal waters with percentages of 7.9, 10.4 and 6.9 respectively. For non-resident Canadians, over 43% of all nights spent on fishing trips were with friends and relatives or at a cottage, while for anglers from outside Canada, this figure was only 24.2%, much less than the 32.8% who stayed at fishing lodges, camps and outfitters. More than 7 million nights were spent on overnight trips for fishing in 1990 with over 73.7% of these nights being accounted for by non-Canadian anglers.

Almost three quarters of the non-resident anglers indicated that they would probably return to fish in the future in the jurisdiction covered. The real difference in motivation, is apparent once the alternatives to fishing are examined. While only 25.3% of non-resident Canadians indicated they would not have visited a particular jurisdiction had no fishing opportunities been available, almost 64% of foreign anglers indicated they would not have come at all (Table 8). Half of the Canadian non-resident respondents indicated they would have substituted other activities and 17% would have stayed a shorter time.

Expenditures and Investments

A considerable amount of economic activity is generated by those who go fishing as a recreational pursuit. While expenditures do not provide us with a measure of economic value of the fishery, they do indicate the diversity of the cost involved.

In 1990, anglers spent $2.8 billion on goods and services directly related to their angling activities (Table 9). Resident anglers spent over $2 billion of this amount, or $559 per angler. Canadian non-residents spent $118 million, or $636 per angler, and other non-residents spent a total of $538 million, for an average of $706 per angler. The statistical tables in the appendices do not include packages with direct expenditures. Instead package deals are broken down in separate tables for each jurisdiction.

If we were to exclude package deals, we would note that Ontario cashed in on $1.1 billion or 46.2% of the $2.4 billion spent by all anglers in 1990. Quebec ranks second with 20.2%. The breakdown of expenditures by type shows that Ontario maintains approximately a 46% proportion of all expenditures whereas Quebec shows a low of 16.3% for fishing supplies and a high of 27.2% for fishing services.

Ontario residents account for 44.5% (of $2 billion) of all expenditures made by resident anglers. Non-resident Canadians favoured British Columbia with 35.4% (of $118 million) of their total direct expenditures going to fishing in tidal waters and another 20.2%, to fishing elsewhere in the province. Non-resident non-Canadians spent an overwhelming 66% (of $538 million) of their direct expenditures in Ontario.

Food, lodging and transportation accounted for 77% of expenditures made by resident anglers (Figure 3), while non-resident Canadians spent 61% and foreign anglers 48% of their expenditures on these items (including packages).

Visiting foreign anglers, purchased package deals worth $208 million (over 50% of all packages) or 38% of all expenditures (Table 9). Ontario received 42.5% of these deals, Quebec 25.9% and B.C. tidal waters 17.35%. A component of major importance is the money anglers spend for durable goods in support of their sport fishing activities. In 1990, anglers invested over $5.3 billion dollars in boats, motors, camping gear, special vehicles and other durable goods (Table 10). Ontario (39.3%), Quebec (23.3%) and British Columbia (19.3%) were the main beneficiaries. Special vehicles accounted for 35.8% of major purchases. The Yukon, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick spent over fifty percent of their total purchases on these items. Only B.C. tidal water anglers and N.W.T. anglers spent more on boating equipment than on special vehicles.

Virtually all this investment was made by resident anglers who accounted for 95.3% of the total. Over one third of the monies invested in durable goods was spent on special vehicles such as ATV's, campers and other such vehicles which in recent years have become extremely popular with anglers. Quebec spent more on "other" types of purchases than any other jurisdiction. These purchases are directly attributable to the $9.5 million of goods purchased outside Canada and also due to the popular ice fishing practice in Quebec, which requires the purchase of ice huts and other related equipment.

Residents indicated that 58% of their investment expenditures were directly related to sport fishing activities; non-resident Canadians, 46%; and, other non-residents, 59% (Figure 4). This adds up to $3.1 million or 59% of the major purchases and investments (Table 11). Overall, anglers spent a total of $8.15 billion (sum of Table 9 and Table 10) on goods and services related in whole or in part to their angling activities in 1990. It is estimated that $5.9 billion, or 73%, of these expenditures were directly related to their angling pursuits.

Willingness to Pay

Active anglers were asked "if your fishing costs had been higher in 1990 due to increased costs for gasoline, accommodation, supplies and other services, at what additional daily cost would you have decided not to fish?". Anglers across Canada were given choices from $1.00 to $100.00, with an additional category of "more than $100.00" in our Pacific tidal fishery. Less than 5% of anglers chose not to answer the question. Of those who did, $10 and $20 per day were most common responses, accounting for almost half of all active anglers (Table 12). The average daily amount indicated by residents was $14.13; by non-resident Canadians, $19.82; and, by other non-residents, $18.35. The overall average is $14.59 per angler per day.

Summary

Over 6.5 million men, women and children fished in Canada in 1990, of which adults represented close to five million individuals. Of this total, just over 876,000 were anglers visiting this country, many for the sole purpose of recreational fishing. The estimated 4.8 million active adult anglers covered in the survey fished for 67 million days and caught over 300 million fish of all species. Of the fish caught, just under 157 million (or 51.7%), were kept. The total weight of the fish harvested was estimated to have been 70 thousand tonnes, of which 80.6% was eaten by anglers and their families. Although fish provide the focus of activity for anglers, the most important factors associated with their enjoyment of the sport are clean water and beauty of surroundings.

In total, the angling population spent $8.1 billion in Canada in 1990 of which $5.9 billion was directly associated with their sport. Anglers spent close to $2.8 billion on package deals, accommodation, food, transportation, fishing supplies and other services directly related to their angling activities. These expenditures were further augmented by monies they spent on investments in durable goods purchased to improve their access to the resource and their enjoyment of it. Investments in 1990 totaled over $5.3 billion for such durables as fishing equipment, boats, motors, camping equipment and special vehicles. Anglers estimated that over $3.1 billion of these expenditures were wholly attributable to their participation in angling.

Anglers further indicated that they were willing to spend on average almost $14.59 per day over and above their current expenditure patterns for services such as accommodation, transportation, etc. The total additional amount anglers indicated they were willing to pay in 1990 was $980 million. Resident anglers accounted for over 86% of this total. There were notable differences when comparing resident and nonresident anglers. Resident anglers indicated that they were willing to pay around $14 per day compared to almost $20 per day for nonresident Canadians and $18 per day for visitors to Canada.

Nonresident anglers made almost three million trips for all reasons into all jurisdictions. Just over 2 million of these trips were made by visitors to Canada with the remainder representing trips by Canadians to other jurisdictions. Overall, nonresident anglers fished on nearly 70% of the trips they made, with visitors to Canada indicating fishing activity on 81% of their trips. Nonresident visitors were most likely to have stayed at lodges and camps; Canadian nonresidents, with friends and relatives or at a family cottage.

Recreational fishing is an important component of the natural resources sector, even though growth has slowed over the last five years, along with other economic factors. The framework of socio-economic and biological information provided by this survey will enable managers of the resource to better assess and monitor fisheries performance in the recreational fishery. Given the impressive catch and release results achieved over the past five years, we know that some gains have been made through improved understanding and management of this fragile and important natural resource.

Comparisons to 1985

There was a 4% decrease in the number of active adult anglers since 1985. The number of days fished dropped by 8.2% and the number of fish caught fell by an equivalent 8.1%. The most important factor was the 31.8% reduction in the number of fish kept. This is further supported by the 30% drop in the total weight of the fish harvested. The number of trips made by non-residents dropped by 7.5% which resulted in a 17% drop in the number of nights spent on fishing trips and an 11% drop in the number of days fished during those trips. The $5.9 billion directly attributable expenditure represents an increase of 32.7% in current dollars over expenditures made in 1985.

Assessed in constant 1985 dollar terms, the increase is 6.6% which represents an annual increase in expenditures by anglers of 1.5% per year since 1985. Although growth still exists, the annual rate has fallen dramatically from the 12% per annum found in the period from 1980 to 1985. Anglers were willing to spend $2.50 more per day fished in 1985 than in 1990.