Anglers' Constraints and Complaints: Relationships with Avidity, Satisfaction and Agency Trust

The potential for long-term declines in recreational fishing participation highlights the need to understand factors influencing angler’s participation.  This study examined the relationship between angler’s perceived constraints and avidity (number of days fished), satisfaction, and agency trust.  Data from a 2010 mailed survey of Ohio anglers were used to examine these relationships.   Initial correlational analyses of constraints and avidity revealed an interesting pattern: that is, constraints negatively associated with avidity tended to focus on the individual (e.g., age, skills, and interest), while constraints positively associated with avidity were largely external (e.g., crowding, access, and pollutants).  Recreational research on constraint and negotiation provide insights useful for interpreting these data.  Specifically, anglers who perceive onsite, external constraints may have successfully negotiated them, but are more aware of these issues because of their frequency of participation—thus, they complain about factors that negatively impact their experience.  In subsequent analyses we examined the relationship between constraints/complaints, angler satisfaction and agency trust.  These analyses reveal that increased complaints are negatively associated with agency trust and general satisfaction; however, similar associations did not emerge with constraints.  Thus, addressing angler’s concerns with onsite issues could enhance satisfaction and agency trust among avid anglers.  However, efforts to address complaints about site-specific conditions are unlikely to increase participation among intermittent anglers, as their participation is hampered by personal factors that are largely beyond agencies’ control.