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Prepared for the
Bisbee's Black & Blue Marlin
Jackpot Tournament ,
Gold Cup Productions Tournament, and the Pete Lopiccola
Memorial Marlin Tournament with partial funding support
provided by
The Billfish Foundation
and
Texas A&M University.
In order to better understand and
be responsive to the needs of current and future
tournament anglers, it is necessary for tournament
planners and directors to conduct market research.
Previous efforts have ranged from collecting basic
angler data as a part of tournament entry forms to more
detailed post event surveys mailed to randomly selected
samples of tournament participants. These later efforts
have typically focused on understanding the social and
economic characteristics of anglers, their annual
fishing activity and methods, and tournament
expenditures and their distribution patterns (at home,
en-route, or during the tournament event).
In addition to providing local
communities with a better understanding of the economic
impacts of their tournament events, data collected have
been previously useful for developing and implementing
event strategies (where number of anglers participating,
angler origin, number of non-participants brought by
anglers, and length of stay are varied) in an effort to
enhance the extent of local economic impact (Ditton and
Loomis 1988; Ditton and Loomis, 1985). Furthermore,
comparisons of market characteristics for tournament
anglers and the overall population of licensed saltwater
anglers have revealed important group differences. In
particular, tournament anglers have been much more
active in terms of their annual fishing participation,
the extent of their involvement in recreational fishing,
and their commitment to the sport (Falk, et. al., 1989).
The main objective of this
report is to provide a profile of fishing patterns,
overall participation characteristics, and demographic
descriptors for anglers who participated in three
billfish tournaments held in Cabo San Lucas, Baja Sur,
Mexico in the fall of 1994. This will enable tournament
planners and directors to make comparisons with the
population of charter boat anglers who fished for
billfish in the study area (Ditton, et. al., 1996) and
with saltwater tournament anglers elsewhere (Falk, et.
al., 1989).
Methods
A mail questionnaire was used
to collect information from a sample of anglers who
participated in three tournaments held in Cabo San Lucas
in the Fall, 1994: Bisbee's Black and Blue Marlin
Jackpot Tournament, Gold Cup Productions Tournament and
the Pete Lopiccola Memorial Marlin Tournament.
Information sought included personal characteristics and
fishing patterns.
The mail survey was sent to the
624 individuals who participated in one or more of the
three aforementioned billfish tournaments. Survey
mailings began on March 10, 1995 and followed a slightly
modified Dillman (1978) methodology. Sampling continued
through May, 1995 and a total of 270 questionnaires were
completed and returned. After non-deliverables were
removed, an overall effective response rate of 44.9% was
achieved. There was no check done to ensure that there
were no significant differences between respondents and
non-respondents. However, a check of non-respondents was
conducted in the overall Southern Baja Recreational
Billfish Study, which sampled both general and
tournament anglers, and no significant differences were
found (Ditton, et. al., 1996).
Results
Characteristics of Billfish
Anglers
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Most (94.1%)
anglers were male and 65.8% were between 36 and
54 years of age with an average age of 46.2
years. They were predominantly white (98.4%) and
non-Hispanic (88.6%). |
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The median annual
household income for anglers was $130,000 -
$150,000, and the median education level was
three years of college. |
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Anglers reported
an average of 23.6 years of saltwater fishing
experience. |
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Anglers reported
an average of 12.6 years of billfish fishing. |
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Most (54.3%)
anglers reported fishing as their most important
outdoor activity. |
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Most anglers
(94.1%) were interested in catching blue marlin
during their last tournament, followed by black
marlin (74.5%), striped marlin (9.4%), swordfish
(7.8%), and sailfish (6.7%). |
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In the previous
twelve months, anglers spent most (27 days) of
their fishing time in salt water with a boat.
The mean number of total days spent fishing was
37 days. Respondents indicated this was slightly
less than in previous years. |
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Most (55.2%)
anglers reported putting most effort into
targeting one particular species of fish. Of
these anglers, most (50.7%) reported marlin, 12%
specified blue marlin and 0.7% specified
sailfish. |
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When asked to
compare their fishing abilities to that of the
general angling population; a plurality (47.3%)
reported they were equally skilled, 38.1%
reported they more skilled and 14.6% reported
they were less skilled. |
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Anglers reported
participating in an average of two fishing
tournaments in the previous twelve months, with
most (53.6%) participating in one fishing
tournament. |
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Anglers reported
an average of 4.1 days of billfish fishing in
places other than in Mexico or their home state
in the previous twelve months. |
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Most (66.3%)
anglers reported subscribing to fishing or
boating magazines. The three most frequently
reported publications were: Marlin Magazine
(55%), Grey's Sporting Journal (15%) and
Powerboat (14%). |
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When asked about
membership organizations, 31.2% reported
belonging to The Billfish Foundation (TBF),
29.6% to the International Game Fish Association
(IGFA), 6% to the National Coalition for Marine
Conservation (NCMC), 1.2% to Game Conservation
International (Game Coin) and 17.4% reported
membership in various other organizations. |
Cabo San Lucas Billfish Tournament Trip
Characteristics
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Anglers spent an
average of 3.5 days fishing during their last
billfish tournament trip. |
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Anglers spent an
average of 8.6 total days in Mexico on this
trip. |
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On their last
trip to Mexico for a billfish fishing
tournament, anglers spent an average of $104 on
automobile transportation, $419 on other
transportation to Mexico, $56 on other
transportation in Mexico, $478 on charter and
guide fees, $2,541 on tournament fees, $486 on
lodging, $479 on food, drink and ice, $142 on
tips and $302 on other costs. The average total
expenditure on their last trip to Mexico for a
billfish fishing tournament was $4,949. |
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Most (64.2%)
anglers have participated in more than one
billfish tournament in Mexico, and 35.4%
reported their last trip was their first trip to
participate in a billfish tournament in Mexico. |
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Anglers reported
participating in an average of 1.33 billfish
tournaments in Baja Sur, Mexico during the past
twelve months. |
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Anglers reported
they were most interested in catching blue
marlin (94.1%), black marlin (74.5%), striped
marlin (9.4%), swordfish (7.8%) and sailfish
(6.7%). |
Billfish Angler Opinions on Management Options
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When asked how
their fishing travel plans would change if their
chances for a successful trip were decreased by
25% due to continued commercial longlining in
Mexico; almost one-half (45.8%) of anglers
reported they would travel to another
destination to fish for billfish, 30.3% reported
they would continue to travel to Mexico and fish
for billfish, 15.5% reported they would travel
to Mexico and fish for another species, 4.4%
reported they would travel to another
destination and not fish for billfish, and 4.0%
reported they would travel to Mexico and not
fish. |
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When anglers who
indicated they would travel to an another
destination and fish for billfish (45.8%) were
asked where they would go as a substitute, they
responded: the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica
(36.5%), Hawaii (27.1%), Venezuela (16.1%),
Panama (15.7%), Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica
(12.2%), US Virgin Islands (11.4%), Florida
(10.2%), California (8.6%), Guatemala (6.7%),
Puerto Rico (5.5%) and various other
destinations represented (11.4%). |
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When asked where
they were most likely to go as a substitute for
Baja Sur, Mexico, about one-third (34.2%)
indicated the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and
24.0% chose Hawaii. |
References
Dillman, D.A. 1978. Mail and
Telephone Surveys: The Total Design Method. New York:
John Wiley and Sons.
Ditton, R.B. and D.K. Loomis.
1985. 1983 Texas International Fishing Tournament: An
Analysis of Participants' Characteristics, Attitudes,
and Expenditures. TAMU-SG-85-202, Texas A&M Univ. Sea
Grant College Program.
Ditton, R.B. and D.K. Loomis.
1988. 1985 Hall of Fame Fishing Tournament: An Analysis
of Participants' Characteristics, Attitudes, and
Expenditures. TAMU-SG-88-201. Texas A&M University Sea
Grant College Program.
Ditton, R.B., S.R. Grimes and
L.D. Finkelstein. 1996. A Social and Economic Study of
the Recreational Billfish Fishery in the Southern Baja
Area of Mexico. Report prepared for the International
Billfish Research and Conservation Foundation, Ft.
Lauderdale, FL.
Falk, J.M., A.R. Graefe, and
R.B. Ditton. 1989. Patterns of Participation and
Motivation Among Saltwater Tournament Anglers. Fisheries
(Bethesda) 14(4:10-17).
We acknowledge the data
collection and analysis assistance of Shepherd Grimes, a
research assistant in the Department.
For an executive summary of
results of a survey of charter boat billfish anglers in
the southern Baja region for comparison purposes, please
check out
this webpage.
For more information on the Human Dimensions Research
Lab at Texas A&M University, Please contact Dr. Robert
B. Ditton, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
77843-2258 or see the
Lab webpage. |
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