AUTHOR=Morales-Nin Beatriz , Arlinghaus Robert , Alós Josep 

TITLE=Contrasting the Motivations and Wildlife-Related Value Orientations of Recreational Fishers With Participants of Other Outdoor and Indoor Recreational Activities

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.714733

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2021.714733

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=Assessing the motivations and wildlife-related value orientations (WVO) of outdoor recreationists, such as recreational fishers (RF), is of key importance for understanding the human dimensions of natural resource use and to inform management actions. Using a national random telephone survey, we contrasted the participation rate, the socio-economical profile, the motivations and the WVO of participants of RF, outdoor recreation (OR), consumptive outdoor recreation (COR), as well as indoor recreation (IR) in Spain. Participation rates of the four subgroups were 6.6%, 15.3%, 49.4% and 28.4%, for RF, COR, OR and IR respectively. The four subgroups differed in socio-economic characteristics, with woman being substantially less involved in RF compared to COR, OR and IR. Moreover, we found a higher income and educational degree of the participants in the other three outdoor modalities compared to IR. Motivations to engage in RF, COR, OR and IR were different. Recreational fishers placed significantly more importance on the motives “to be close to nature”, “to experience tranquility”, “to get away from the usual demands of life”, “to relax psychically”, “to stay with family” and “to get exercise” compared to the other recreational groups, being very different from the ones to practice IR. We did not find significant differences in the WVO among the participants of the four recreational activities. We conclude that recreational fishing is a widespread recreational activity in Spain, embedded in all the segments of the society. This generates substantial psychological benefits, that are not equally produced by other forms of indoor and outdoor recreation, that should be considered managing this form of recreation.