Press Releases

ALEXANDRIA, VA (March 2, 2011) – Fishing license sales are trending upwards nationally and, according to a recent data comparison, states participating in the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation’s (RBFF) Fishing License Marketing Program are seeing a higher than average increase.

According to Southwick Associates, data recently collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to be used in apportioning the Sport Fish Restoration funds indicates a nationwide 0.02% average increase in fishing license sales in 2009. When you look only at the 30 states participating in RBFF’s Fishing License Marketing Program in both 2008 and 2009, the data shows a 0.76% average increase.

“We are extremely pleased with this news,” said RBFF President and CEO Frank Peterson. “Even though a number of different factors contribute to overall license sales, the data comparison shows the states participating in our program are selling fishing licenses at a much higher rate than the national average. And that’s a good indicator.”

Launched in March 2008 with 30 state fish and wildlife agencies, RBFF’s Fishing License Marketing Program aims to recruit and retain lapsed anglers and generate awareness of the connection between fishing license sales and conservation efforts. Thirty-one states currently participate in the program. Each state agency receives marketing templates, guidance to implement an outreach campaign and advertising support from RBFF.

“Following a 15 year decline, fishing license sales in New Jersey have been on the rise each year since 2006 when we began a modest marketing and promotion campaign to increase fishing participation,” said New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife Chief of Information and Education Jim Sciascia. “The RBFF Direct Mail Marketing partnership was a welcome addition to our annually expanding marketing program and really helped us step-up our game. The research data, marketing tools, license sales data analysis, technical support and matching funds that came with the RBFF partnership surely contributed to our 2008 and 2009 license sales increases - our largest annual increases in nearly two decades.”

RBFF’s 2010 Fishing License Marketing Program has contributed $5.8 million in gross revenue for fish and wildlife management efforts. For more information about RBFF’s programs and products that help increase participation in boating and fishing, visit RBFF.org.

About RBFF
RBFF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase participation in recreational angling and boating, thereby protecting and restoring the nation’s aquatic natural resources. RBFF helps people discover, share and protect the legacy of boating and fishing through national outreach programs including the Take Me Fishing™ campaign and Anglers’ Legacy™.