{"id":2456,"date":"2022-02-21T03:07:32","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T08:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/?p=2456"},"modified":"2023-07-27T12:22:07","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T16:22:07","slug":"how-did-anglers-relieve-stress-when-the-pandemic-first-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/how-did-anglers-relieve-stress-when-the-pandemic-first-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"How Did Anglers Relieve Stress When the Pandemic First Hit?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
They fished more.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Recreational fishing is one of the most popular activities in the U.S., where an estimated 44 million people identify as anglers. Given the ubiquity and importance of angling, we wanted to understand if anglers changed their habits during the first few months of the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We sent a random sample of anglers in 10 states an email with a survey about their fishing habits before and during the pandemic. Survey questions covered how many fishing trips they made, their reasons for fishing, access to fishing locations, and their perceived safety while fishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly 18,000 licensed anglers participated in our survey. Overall, we found that people fished more during the start of the pandemic than in the previous year. In fact, about one out of five anglers took an additional fishing trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We also found that reasons for fishing were related to increased free time and stress relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fishing access was limited for some anglers, but it also varied a lot by state; however, around 95% of anglers reported that fishing was a safe activity during the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We should not assume recreational anglers are a homogenous group. Indirectly, we found evidence that angler attitudes and behaviors varied a lot by state. Part of this also might have to do with how states determined fishing regulations and access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fishing is a widespread and important activity in the U.S. Our study strongly suggests that anglers perceive fishing as a pandemic-friendly activity, and we found evidence that anglers fished more during the pandemic even if their reasons for fishing changed. Access to natural resources has always been important, and the various benefits \u2014 stress relief, family bonding, food \u2014 likely increased during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Midway, S. R., A. J. Lynch, B. K. Peoples, M. Dance, R. Caffey. 2021. COVID-19 influences on US recreational angler behavior<\/a>. PLOS ONE. 16(8):e0254652.<\/p>\n\n\n\nResearch Need<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What did we study?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What did we find?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Anything else?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
So what? <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n