Identifying the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing

Alexandra McManus; Wendy Hunt; Jessica Storey; J. White

Recreational fishing is a popular form of outdoor recreation enjoyed by Australians. Participation rates have been extrapolated to show that approximately 25% of Australian households consist of at least one member who participates in recreational fishing; and on average each of these households contains two recreational fishers (Henry & Lyle 2003). Recreational fishing is one of the few forms of nature-based recreation that can be enjoyed throughout childhood, adolescence, adulthood and into the senior years. Of recreational fishers aged 50 years and over, 75% have been fishing for longer than 30 years amassing a wealth of skills, techniques and knowledge build over the years of participation. A major health concern in Australia is that the level of physical activity in children and adolescents is decreasing, with electronic media and other sedentary behaviours replacing outdoor activities. One study revealed that 37% of children aged 10 to 12 years spend less than half an hour a day playing outside after school and 43% spend more than two hours a day using electronic media (Wen, Kite et al. 2009). The lack of physical activity associated with the replacement of outdoor play with electronic leisure, places children at a greater risk for obesity and related adverse health effects. Research has shown that there is an urgent need to provide outdoor social opportunities and activities for children aged up to five years to encourage habitual healthy behaviours. Furthermore, parental (or adult) encouragement, supervision and participation are essential for long-term behaviour change (Cleland, Timperio et al. 2009). Providing opportunities for fishing at a young age, as a family activity, or as part of school physical education programs, is vital to cultivating recreational fishing as an interest for tomorrow’s adults. Children that participate in recreational activity with their parents or adult carers are more likely to participate later in life. Successful promotion of fishing to Australian youth can maintain the future of the recreational fishing industry. Concurrently, promoting outdoor recreation throughout life can improve lifelong health for participants. To date however, the health benefits associated with recreational fishing have been difficult to quantify. The primary reason people partake in outdoor pursuits such as recreational fishing is to relax and unwind. With clear evidence supporting physical activity and a healthy diet high in seafood as beneficial to health and the prevention of chronic conditions (McManus and Newton 2011; McManus. A., White. J. et al. 2011; Newton and McManus 2011), it is both logical and intuitive that recreational fishing could offer substantial health benefits. The first stage of this scoping study was to conduct an extensive review of literature and online resources to determine what research or activities had taken place with a focus on the health and well-being benefits associated with recreational fishing. An extensive database of 20,386 journal articles was systematically analysed and only 131 found to be directly related to recreational fishing. Only three articles had a primary focus on health, well-being and recreational fishing. The second stage of this research project was to investigate the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing to the Australian society. Given the lack of published literature in this field an extensive online search was conducted. Also, with the help of the industry advisory group, a database of key Australian stakeholder organisations and individuals was constructed. Stakeholders were personally contacted in order to gain access to the corporate memory of key individuals and related anecdotal evidence. The response to this phase of the research was overwhelmingly positive. An initial contact list of 29 key stakeholders was extended to 48 as further contacts were added and, on some occasions, unsolicited responses received. As a result, a large body of emergent evidence for the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing was identified (although it should be noted that not all of this evidence is published). The study found the strongest areas of evidence related to youth development, breast cancer recovery, positive mental health outcomes, recreation for the disabled and participation as a sport. There were programs and events run throughout Australia allowing children the opportunity to fish. Each of these initiatives focussed on education and environmental awareness. Classroom materials and lessons were also available to support learning outcomes. In many cases, fishing was used as an incentive to deter antisocial behaviour with excellent results. Recreational fishing gave children who did not find classroom social dynamics easy, the opportunity to shine and to form friendships outside their own school. For example, older children had the opportunity to mentor younger children which increased their own self-efficacy and self-confidence. Of great interest are the findings that hyperactive children were seen to sit quietly by the water for long periods of time and uncommunicative children vocally expressed that they want to fish. Volunteer-led recreational fishing activities were also popular outside of the school setting. This report provides many examples from all over Australia. Skills developed over a lifetime not only provided health benefits for seniors but put them in a unique position for intergenerational transfer of recreational fishing knowledge. Also, children and adults with disabilities were able to partake in fishing largely due to a large base of volunteers and funding from organisational bodies. Beyond the large body of anecdotal evidence supporting relaxation and stress reduction, a clear benefit has been noted for women recovering from mastectomies or related surgeries. The action of fly fishing is an excellent way to recover upper body function and maintain or extend range of motion, in a supportive and social environment. Based on the evidence amassed, a questionnaire was developed to further assess the role that recreational fishing has to play in promoting good health and well-being in Australian society. The questionnaire instrument was tested for reliability and piloted with a small sample of fishers. This research tool can now be used (and further tested) in larger studies. In summary, this study found that considerable health and well-being benefits can be gained through involvement in recreational fishing. Encouraging young children, youth, adults and families to fish offers a cost effective and healthful outdoor recreational activity that can be enjoyed throughout life. Benefits were evident for individuals and groups. Recreational fishing was also noted to provide significant benefits to children and youth with behavioural and mental health issues. Finally, educational strategies that focus on how to minimise the environmental impacts of recreational fishing can ensure today’s and tomorrow’s recreational fishers are aware of sustainable fishing practices.

Identifying the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing

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