Fishing License Sales Analysis

ASA-AFWA Data Mining Project Producing Results

A project to learn more about who fishes and who is more likely to drop out is progressing well. This project, a joint effort between the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, is examining state fishing license data to help state fishery agencies and companies learn more about their customers.

This project is examining detailed license records for 16 states to identify the type of person more or less likely to buy licenses – and therefore increase or decrease their fishing activity – and who is more likely to upgrade or downgrade their license purchases. Lifestyle data, which reports the common lifestyle characteristics of people living on the same block as the license buyer, are appended to each license record being examined. By adding in such data and grouping people together based on common characteristics (type of profession, family status, rural/suburban, etc.), a clearer picture emerges about the types of people more or less likely to fish. The results can be used to identify new markets, new products, and more.  The results can be used to identify communities and neighborhoods that best fit a product’s target market, and were recruitment efforts are more likely to find new anglers.

This project is being conducted by the ASA’s data and statistics contractor, Southwick Associates. In 2005, data mining projects were completed for four states: Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Florida.  In 2006, twelve more state license databases will be added to the project.

This project is funded by a grant from the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Multi-State grant, submitted and managed jointly by ASA and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Technologies and Data Utilization Committee.  For more information, contact Rob Southwick, Southwick Associates, rob@southwickassociates.com or (904) 277-9765.

Highlights from the fishing license data mining project

Five states have been analyzed to date: Idaho, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Florida and Nebraska. Click on the state to download the complete report:

Idaho - While rural residents still make up the largest block of Idaho’s resident license sales, their participation is dropping. The top 15 segments (out of 65) in terms of growth in the number of licenses purchased annually are from suburban and urban neighborhoods. Not a single segment was classified rural.

Minnesota – The only one of the four states to show overall license sales increases since 2001, Minnesota’s revenues have not kept pace as a greater number of anglers downgraded to lower priced licenses than upgraded.  The reason for this trend could also affect tackle purchases, though additional work would be needed to know for sure.

New Hampshire 1 2 – Of the four states examined, New Hampshire is experiencing the greatest decrease in license sales. Only one in six anglers bought a license in each of the five years studied. This statistic is not much better in the other three states, with one in four or five buying a license every year.  Increasing angler loyalty would boost license revenues and tackle sales.

Florida – Residents buy 1.9 saltwater licenses for each freshwater license sold, and one-third of all licenses sold are bought by non-residents.  Affluent anglers are more likely to prefer saltwater fishing.

Nebraska – Nebraska is experiencing a steady drop in anglers.  Only eight percent of anglers bought a license in each of the study years (2002-2005). License sales are dropping faster in rural areas compared to suburban areas, which may reflect a general population shift and negative trends in some of the state’s most important rural fisheries. Residents are also much more likely to downgrade to lower-priced licenses compared to upgrading their purchases.

Kentucky – Kentucky license sales are largely to rural residents.  Suburban residents are not as pronounced a buying block as in other states.  Rural residents are also the most loyal license buyers (likely to buy year after year). However, rural anglers are also decreasing their license purchases at faster rates, which is a threat to long term agency revenues.