Heterogeneity among recreational sea anglers in England and Wales

The UK Joint Fisheries Statement and suite of Fishery Management Plans highlighted the important role of recreational fishing in the UK fisheries policy framework. There is an ever-growing body of research literature highlighting the need to fully understand diversity in stakeholder characteristics to effectively aid fisheries policy. This can help develop policy that caters for varying stakeholder expectations, improve message framing, inform related stakeholder engagement and help predict responses to management measures. Improvements in these areas increase the likelihood of regulatory compliance. To aid the new era of fishery management post Brexit, the seminar presents work that generated the first ever typology of recreational sea anglers in the UK. The typology presents a simplified model of angler types observed in the study sample based on a comprehensive data collection framework involving angler value, attitude and behavioural metrics.
The seminar is relevant to both researchers in related scholarly fields and those involved at a policy or operational level of fishery management. The session will be interactive, beginning with presentations on how the typology was developed, the components of the model and theoretical contributions to the field. Opportunity will be given to discuss the scholarly underpinning of the research. The second part will cover recommendations on how to capture angler type according to the typology with prompted discussion among participants on how it may be relevant to specific parts of current policy and how it may be practically used by policy makers or those involved in the day-to-day management of UK fisheries.
Dr Adam Fisher is an ESRC postdoctoral research fellow at the Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire. Adam has background in applied socio-economic research and has recently completed his doctorate on heterogeneity among recreational sea anglers in the UK. He is currently developing several areas of research and impact in recreational fishing, including policy implications of angler diversity, stewardship and drivers of regulatory non-compliance.