PHOTO COURTESY RBFF

Fishing participation in the United States has steadily increased during the past decade, with the pandemic fueling an added bump as people sought outdoor activities. An essential audience for fishing is youth and adolescents; introducing fishing at an early age is critically important to building a lifelong love of the sport. Most avid anglers say they were introduced to fishing during childhood. In 2020 and 2021, youth and adolescent fishing participation hit record numbers: Almost 8 million children ages 6 to 12 fished in each of those years.

While these trends are impressive, as normalcy returns, the battle for Americans’ time and money is real. The future of fishing success will hinge on the industry’s ability to continue welcoming newcomers, and retaining first-timers and avid anglers.

The Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation, through two major state grant programs, supercharges local engagement in fishing and boating. RBFF’s State R3 program grants support state fish and wildlife agencies that implement recruitment, retention and reactivation strategies on the local level. RBFF partially funds the State R3 program grants through a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service financial assistance award.

RBFF recently announced 10 programs in nine states for this year. RBFF will distribute $207,000 to states, as state agencies contribute more than $232,000 in project funds and in-kind support, bringing the total funding to more than $439,000 for these R3 programs.

This year’s focus areas are communicating the relevance of fishing and boating to urban, multicultural audiences; implementing angler and boater customer-engagement strategies to retain and reactivate anglers and boaters; and enhancing the capability of agencies to develop and implement practical angler and boater R3 efforts.

This year’s grantees include the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission — Fishing Perspectives in the Hispanic Community; Iowa Department of Natural Resources — Building Social Support Communities for Iowa’s Female Recreational Paddlers to Go Fishing; Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks — Hispanic Anglers Digital Marketing Campaign; Maryland Department of Natural Resources — Welcome to Boating and Fishing; Nevada Department of Wildlife — Kids Fish Free @ First Catch Events; Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission — Digital Marketing for R3 Microsite; Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency — Boater Reactivation and R3 Campaign; Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — Retention of Female Anglers, with particular focus on Hispanic women; Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — Text Messages to Lapsed Year from Purchase Anglers; and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources — Utah R3 Underserved Communities Marketing Campaign.

RBFF also recently announced its 2023 grantees for another vital program, the George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Education Fund grants. While Hispanic participation in fishing has grown tremendously in the past decade, only one in 10 anglers identify as Hispanic, highlighting an opportunity for the industry.

The George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Education Fund grants let state agencies match and sub-grant to local organizations. The idea is to support programs that will bring fishing and boating experiences, and conservation education, to Hispanic families nationwide. With the help of donations from Bass Pro Shops and other companies and organizations, this fund has continued to grow and expand nationally. This year, RBFF awarded more than $109,500 collectively to 16 programs in eight states.

The state agencies fully match the grant funds, bringing the total funding to approximately $221,000 for this year’s grantees: California; Cast Hope; Friends of Fish; Outdoor Outreach; Reel Guppy Outdoors; Solidarity; Colorado; Colorado Wildlife Federation; Florida; Fishing’s Future — Reel Blessed Chapter; Manatee County Natural Resources Department; Miami-Dade Parks Recreation and Open Spaces — EcoAdventures; Pasco County Parks Recreation and Natural Resources; Tampa Bay Kayak Anglers; Oklahoma; Scissortail Park Foundation; Rhode Island; Partnership for Providence Parks; South Dakota; Augustana University; Texas; Fishing’s Future; Virginia; and Harrisonburg City Public Schools.

RBFF’s State R3 program grants, and its George H.W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Education Fund grants, are just two examples of what the industry can do collectively to attract diverse groups to fishing and boating, and to keep them enjoying time on the water while supporting the economic wealth of the industry and the conservation of our nation’s waterways. 

Stephanie West Vatalaro is senior vice president of marketing and communications at the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation.

This article was originally published in the June 2023 issue.