by
E. Ter Haar
Rijksdient
Voor de IJsselmeerpolders
Smedinghuis, Lelystad, The Netherlands
This paper attempts to give information on research in the field of sport fishing by the IJsselmeerpolders Development Authority; to indicate some of the possibilities of such research; to establish relations with national research in this field and other fields of recreation and to provide some information on methodology.
L'auteur fournit des renseignements concernant les recherches sur la pêche sportive réalisées par l'Agenoe de mise en valeur des polders du lac de l'Ijsel, signale quelquesunes des possibilités offertes par ces recherches, établit des relations entre les recherches nationales effectuées dans ce domaine et celles qui portent sur d'autres activités récréatives et donne quelques indications sur la méthodologie utilisée.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the research carried out on sport fishing by the IJsselmeerpolders Development Authority, its advantages and restrictions and its relation with other fields of recreation and provide information on methodology.
First some information about the nature of the region, its planning problems, the position of sport fishing and of the research problems involved is necessary.
Physical plans for the newly claimed land in the former Zuydersee, the geographical centre of The Netherlands, for the surrounding districts and the country as a whole, have been integrated to a very high degree. The reason is the availability of a very large area of flat virgin land near highly populated areas.
Land use for Eastern Flevoland indicates a transition from farming use to urban use as in Southern Flevoland and perhaps in the Markerwaard. While Eastern Flevoland was being developed people turned increasingly to outdoor recreation and were offered necessary facilities particularly along the lakes bordering the polder, while the central part of the polders was being developed along the old lines and became farming country. The idea arose to integrate in the land use plan farmland and recreational provisions. Planners tried to integrate recreational functions with the creation of at least two new towns with a minimum of 100 000 inhabitants in the year 2000 (Lelystad and Almere) keeping in mind the strong recreation pressure on East Flevoland and South Flevoland, the geographical situation to the northern part of the Randstad Holland and the growth of outdoor recreation in all its forms.
Careful spatial planning adapted as far as possible to the wishes and preferences of the different groups, integrated with other developments in various combinations, are an absolute necessity in South Flevoland. The lack of fundamental research handicapped planning and put undue pressure on research departments. For this reason research was carried out in Eastern Flevoland to evaluate the existing provisions and to acquire knowledge for application in Southern Flevoland.
The surrounding lakes and polder canals were welcomed to sport fishing circles. As soon as the first roads and bridges had been constructed, sport fishermen discovered the wealth of fish in the canals and appreciated the central location in the country. It forced the government agency responsible for the engineering works to introduce “dyke-permits” and “canal-bank-permits”. In 1967 for example, about 5 000 of each type of permit were sold.
The fishermen concentrated on spots where roads and canals intersected. A number of these concentration spots were turned into the “fish- and picnic-sites”, leaving the rest of the canal banks to those who preferred secluded sport. In this way about one third of the 60 km of passable canal banks has been equipped with about 30 sites for sport fishermen and other waterside enthusiasts. The accommodation is often very modest but includes provisions for parking and toilets or even slipways, children's playgrounds, day camping areas, horse riding facilities, shrubs, trees, earth mounds and provisions for handicapped persons, etc., in varying combinations. The “Fish- and picnic-sites” lie scattered throughout the area along the most important canals.
There are different categories of sport fishermen who have a right to optimal fishing conditions. This implies that a great deal of sport fishing is done in groups (families and/or others) contrary to the often quoted belief that fishermen look for secluded spots.
To make adequate planning decisions an evaluation of this “principle” and its consequences was necessary.
Research was concentrated only on the use of the water courses inside Eastern Flevoland.
To obtain an insight in the use and the kind of users of the angling facilities, different methods have been used. Because no research in this field had been undertaken in The Netherlands, some trial and error therefore occurred.
5.1 The registration of sport fishermen who bought the “canal-bank-permits” (until 1968) made it possible to get information only on the place of origin of the sport fishermen, and on the attraction zone of the canals in East Flevoland. No information on the real use, the selected spots, etc., could be obtained and interviewing was necessary although the number of sport fishermen fishing illegally was unknown. This type of research is labour-intensive and the analysis was not taken further.
5.2 Some information could also be obtained from the nationwide research (1972, by N.I.P.O.) on the use of Flevoland as a recreation area which also paid some attention to sport fishing. Although superficial, it can give a good insight on the relative importance of sport fishing compared with other recreational use. The interviewing of a national sample of 6 700 men and women yielded a great deal of very interesting information.
5.3 The inventory of the use of the facilities can be better obtained by direct counting and observation on the spot. Both methods were used, with the awareness of their problems and restrictions.
As regards counting it must be said that in an area of more than 50 000 ha, with 165 km of canal banks of which about 60 km can be reached by sport fishermen, presents difficulties. Counting on different hours of the day by a number of people travelling through parts of the area, is one method but it is obviously very labour-intensive. Counting as part of the observation of an area is another method especially if the circulation-factor in the area is high. Observations are very labour-intensive and not usable on a large scale, but have a certain importance both quantitatively and qualitatively.
In practice counting was done on 25 summer days in the years between 1968 and 1971, thus giving a very fragmentary picture of the reality. Countings were done morning and afternoon and both fishing and non-fishing people were counted. Figures were grouped systematically by type of bank, canal and geographical zone. Two countings a day showed little double counting.
5.4 Of course, the method of interviews has also been used to overcome some of the difficulties of the previous mentioned methods. These interviews took place during the summer of 1970. Every spot along the canals in use at that moment was included in the sample. Of course, there was over-representation during the weekend days, but it is known that most sport fishing in the area is done during the weekends. About 520 representatives of groups were interviewed, by 6 interviewers - themselves sport fishermen.
The disadvantage of the interviews on the sport is that normally they cannot be done in depth not to disturb unduly the interviewees. The questions had to be concentrated more or less on the situation at hand; questions on behaviour at other times and places had to be restricted in number and variety.
This research has not been repeated, but appears to be necessary, not only to study possible changes, but also to control the applied method.
The “attraction-zone” of Eastern Flevoland proves to be limited. About two thirds of the anglers live in the adjacent zones of the neighbouring provinces. Fifty four percent of the sport fishermen in 1967 lived in urban communities, only 18.5 percent in farming communities.
Until the spring of 1972 it could be said that roughly 36 percent of the adult population of the Netherlands had visited Eastern Flevoland for one reason or another. Half of them had been there only once, about 4 percent more than 10 times. Twenty-three percent of the respondents had been in the area for touristic reasons.
Only 2 percent of the adult inhabitants had visited fishing spots and only two thirds of them had been fishing there. Most people said that the main attraction was to drive through the area (33 percent), visit of tourist sites (25 percent) and special recreational attractions such as the beach, forests, camping, etc. Other research proved, however, that in conditions of bad weather sport fishing may attract on some days more than 10 percent of the recreational visitors to the polders.
Sport fishing in Eastern Flevoland, however, is together with water sports the most frequent activity of visitors from other areas. In 1972 only 45 percent of the anglers came from the provinces in the east of the country and 42 percent from the provinces in the western part. Nevertheless, the predominantly regional function of the area remained.
One of the most interesting features of recreation in Eastern Flevoland was that people visiting the area had on an average slightly higher family incomes than those recorded in the total national sample. But the same sample shows that the percentage of sport fishermen with an income of less than FL 21 000 (in 1972) was higher (79) than of the total national sample (71). The sport fishermen in Eastern Flevoland nevertheless belong for the most part to the lower income groups.
There are relatively more married men among them than the national sample shows, they have slightly larger families, but are comparatively younger. Their level of school education is comparable to the national sample, but lower than that of water sport fans and than those visiting beaches, forests and tourist attractions.
One should bear in mind that the area itself is rather thinly populated, that all sport fishermen come from regions outside where different possibilities for sport fishing exist.
Counting gives the number of sport fishermen as well as their geographical dispersion. The geographical dispersion, the relation between sport fishermen and accompanying people and some information about densities is of importance even if the information is not exact.
(a) The average day visits along the canals in Eastern Flevoland during the last years was about 1 000 people, including approximately 125 non-fishing visitors.
More people come on Saturdays than on work days. The ratio between Saturdays, Sundays and work days was 10:7:5. It means that sport fishing in Eastern Flevoland occurs on the same days as most other recreational activities. This sometimes causes problems.
Sixty two percent of the sport fishermen came in the early morning, with only 17 percent of the non-fishing visitors. These average figures are different for Saturdays, Sundays and work days because of the lower percentage of “morning fishermen”. Table 1 shows that the combination of sport fishermen and non-fishing visitors occurs at moments when also in other recreational activities mixed groups of people are present. This is a very interesting observation because it shows some difference within the group of sport fishermen on one hand and some conformity in behaviour for part of the sport fishermen with other recreational activities on the other hand.
Table 1
Percentage distribution of fishing- and non-fishing visitors present on different day-type and parts of the day
| Day/type | Sport fishermen | Non-fishing visitors | Total | ||||
| Morning | Afternoon | Morning | Afternoon | Morning | Afternoon | ||
| Saturdays | (11) | 71.6 | 28.4 | 32.1 | 67.9 | 68.6 | 31.4 |
| Sundays | ( 4) | 55.4 | 44.6 | 13.4 | 86.6 | 48.7 | 51.3 |
| Work days | (10) | 43.3 | 56.7 | 7.7 | 92.3 | 35.2 | 64.7 |
| Average | (25) | 62.6 | 37.4 | 17.2 | 82.8 | 56.7 | 43.3 |
The percentage of non-fishing visitors on the average afternoon is about 25 percent of all visitors, but most negligible (4 percent) in the mornings. On Sunday afternoons and work days in the holiday season it is often much higher, especially in certain spots.
(b) The average group size proves to be about 2.4 persons per group, on Sundays being higher than on work days. This means on an average of about 415 groups who are looking for a good place along 60 km of canal banks, thus theoretically 140 m between each.
(c) Seasonal differences are present and show some interesting features. The central part of the summer season (holiday period of about 4 weeks) saw on the average the greatest number of sport fishermen and their friends. It seems, however, that Saturday does not in all parts of the season receive the greatest number of visitors. If the figures for Sundays are correct a comparison between sport fishing and other aspects of daily recreation can be made; a diminishing number of activities during the high season on Sundays, a growing importance of sport fishermen on holiday. In the after-season only Saturdays and Sundays are of importance, work days are not.
In general one may say that the role of the non-fishing visitors in the total number of visitors is more important on Sunday afternoon and work days in the high season; in the after-season it is lower than in the pre-season. Weather conditions have a strong influence on the number of non-fishing people.
(d) The geographical dispersion is another interesting aspect of the results of the count. For this reason figures are analysed on three levels:
There are two canals, the High Canal (situated closest to the mainland) and the Low Canal. It appears that the number of sport fishermen and their density is always higher along the High Canal. The average figures for the whole season show that the Saturday morning is relatively the most important for both canals, but especially for the Low Canal.
The percentage of non-fishing visitors is higher along the High Canal than along the Low Canal. This is a normal situation in recreation as most people look for the shortest distance to travel. Also sport fishermen seem to follow this habit, although it is interesting to note that a maximum density of 1 sport fisherman for about 70 m of bank length along the High Canal does not prevent about 40 percent of the sport fishermen to go farther.
Both canals can be parcelled out in 3 zones, each relating to the point of entrance of sport fishermen in the polder and the distance to these points. Comparison between the relative part of the canal banks in each of the 6 zones and the dispersion of the sport fishermen in 1970 makes it clear that (see Table 2) there are some differences.
The principle seems to be clear; a shorter distance leads to higher pressure. It seems possible that other factors are present: the density of sport fishermen in the different zones shows that apart from distance some zones seem to have more attraction than others. Hence the highest density is found in zone IV on Saturday morning and never in zone I. For the whole period 1968–71 the highest comparable density was found in zone II, the zone with the highest percentage of equipped canal banks and closest to the mainland.
While there is little change in the use of the sport fishing facilities, a diminishing number of sport fishermen is combined with a higher number of non-fishing visitors which is another use of the facilities. The causes behind this development are not known. It may be a problem of diminishing quantities of fish in the canals, combined with a reorientation of leisure activities.
The banks of the canal zones are divided in four types, depending on the number and type of facilities; the first type is well equipped for sport fishermen often in combination with picnic facilities; the second and third groups have some facilities but are not so well equipped; the last type often was given no special attention, with the exception of some parking facilities along the road. The relative and absolute importance of the last group of banks is diminishing. The length of the equipped banks increased and was more than 11 km in 1971 (18 percent). Rough fishing places were about 8 km in 1971 (12 percent). Later changes were more in the direction of the equipped sites.
Table 2
Dispersion of sport fishermen in the summer of 1970 in the different zones, per day-type and in comparison to the relative part of the canal-bank-length per zone (in percentage)
| Zone | Saturdays (average) | Sundays (average) | Work days (average) | Total average | % of bank-length | |
| High Canal | I | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4.8 |
| High Canal | II | 17 | 20 | 23 | 19 | 12.7 |
| High Canal | III | 33 | 36 | 37 | 35 | 28.5 |
| Low Canal | IV | 23 | 17 | 17 | 20 | 15.5 |
| Low Canal | V | 14 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 17.5 |
| Low Canal | VI | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 20.9 |
| 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100.0 | ||
Table 3
Percentage of counted sport fishermen in different days, registered on banks of different types, compared to the relative length of the bank-types
| Day-type | Non-equipped banks | Rough sites | Rough sites near nucleii | Equipped sites | Total |
| Saturday | 44 | 10 | 15 | 31 | 100 |
| Sunday | 41 | 8 | 14 | 37 | 100 |
| Work day | 43 | 9 | 14 | 34 | 100 |
| Average | 43 (m.48) (a.35) | 9 (m.8) (a.10) | 14 (16) (13) | 34 (28) (42) | 100 |
| Relative length per bank-type | 71 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 100 |
The striking observation is not only that there is a relative concentration of sport fishermen on the equipped sites, which means a much higher density than on the non-equipped banks, but also that the relative position of the different bank-types is maintained without much change during the different day-types.
An interesting aspect too is that the relative position of the different bank-types is different between morning and afternoon countings, for all day-types at about the same degree. It is shown in the table (see percentages behind m. and a.) that the relative position of the different bank-types during an average day is changing: the importance of the non-equipped banks is much higher in the morning (m.) than in the afternoon (a.), the opposite is the case on the equipped sites. It seems to be an aspect of the changing types of visitors during a day.
It is shown that especially on the rough site near the village Dronten a rather high density was found in 1970: 56 sport fishermen/km of banks (18 m per sport fishermen). Especially for this reason the overall density of the rough sites near nucleii is the highest in general but particularly in zone IV. In all other zones the equipped sites have the highest density.
Among the non-fishing visitors the remarkable thing is that the dispersion of them during the morning is about the same as of the sport fishermen, but that in the afternoon the concentration on the equipped sites is much higher.
In general it may be concluded that the simple countings of people present in an area, according to a system of stratification, can give a great deal of information, ready for further interpretation and allowing possibilities for indications, hypotheses and even conclusions.
In the registration of all people arriving and leaving the site under study, it was proved that the two daily counts do not “cover” all visitors. A full day count in the summer of 1970 revealed that about 16 percent of the visiting groups stayed not more than half an hour and that about 25 percent of them had no member who fished.
A very interesting aspect of full day counts is also that in registering the unequal presence of groups the circulation factor can be shown. On the 6 fishing sites observed, the groups found at 07.00 h and 15.00 h represented together only 52 percent of all groups observed those days. It seems that the equipped sites have the highest circulation factor.
Between the different day-types there are great differences in the number of hours in which such a site is in real use. On the observation days about 70 percent of the groups for which the staying time could be observed, stayed less than 4 h and 20 percent less than half an hour.
On the equipped sites the time of arrival of the groups was generally after 10.00 h in the morning and about 7 percent after 18.00 h. On work days the spread over the day was more gradual than during the weekend and the number of groups arriving after 18.00 h was much higher (18 percent). On Saturday there were two peaks in arrival; before 10.00 h and in the afternoon; on Sunday people arrived during the whole morning and in the afternoon but not in the evening.
Most of the departures were concentrated in the late afternoon.
The number of people arriving alone was only 25 percent. About 40 percent of the groups were of 3 persons and more. People who came alone came and left earlier than the larger groups.
Other observations were: (a) the spatial use of the whole site during the day, (b) the favourite spots, (c) the distances among groups, (d) the contacts between the groups, (e) the use of the different facilities on the site, and (f) the movement of groups over the site during the day, etc. The method of observation can be of considerable help although the sample days should be chosen carefully.
Regarding the results from the interview campaign in 1970, reference is made to the paper delivered at the Consultation in 1972 in the Hague1, although some results will be mentioned again.
The most important aspects are:
The relation between behaviour on the day of interview and general behaviour in Eastern Flevoland;
the relation between fishing in Eastern Flevoland and on the mainland;
the typology used as such and in relation to behaviour and opinions;
some remarks on planning of fishing sites in relation to the wishes.
(a) The sample
It should be borne in mind that the interviews were only held with people who were fishing. This means that no information was gathered on the other functions of the fishing sites. This also means that sport fishermen with a high visit frequency had more chances to be in the sample than those with a lower visit frequency. Apart from these points it is assumed that the sample is a rather good representative sample of day-types, bank-type, degree of motorization and place of origin, etc.
(b) Personal information
The age structure of the sport fishermen in the sample has a strong resemblance to the age structure of the sport fishermen visiting Eastern Flevoland, but differs from the age structure of the sport fishermen in The Netherlands; in Eastern Flevoland relatively less people come under 24 and over 55 years of age, the age group between 35 and 55 being strongly over-represented (54 percent versus 79 percent). Also relatively more of the sport fishermen are married (86 percent versus 79 percent).
Almost 20 percent of the interviewees were fishing in Eastern Flevoland during their holidays, 60 percent had a free weekend and 7 percent were pensioned or out of work. The first group may have been spending the holiday in or in the neighbourhood of Eastern Flevoland, a factor of importance also for other areas, for example, for about 15 percent of the interviewees their place of origin on the interview day was not the same as the community where they lived.
(c) Company
Only 16 percent of the interviewees were alone, the rest were in company mostly of family members (26 percent), other relatives (17 percent), friends (22 percent) or a combination of these (19 percent). Unfortunately, it is not clear from the national research among Dutch sport fishermen what are the exact comparable figures, but the impression is that the sport fishermen who visited the polder canals on the days of interview are much more in the company of others than is considered normal. This is particularly important because less than 20 percent of them who come regularly say that they mostly come alone, the rest with family members (19 percent), with other relatives (22 percent), with friends (33 percent) or with some combination (16.5 percent). The effect is that most visits are group visits, averaging 3 persons (16 percent alone, 31 percent two persons and the rest 3–8 persons).
The activity of the company gives interesting differences. While 73 percent said they went mainly for angling, only 51 percent actually fished. If the number of interviewees is added it becomes clear that 82 percent of the people involved with the interviews fished, which figure is about the same as that found by the counting (87.5 percent). An interesting aspect is also that a more intense family relation to the interviewees corresponds with a more diversified behaviour on the fishing spot.
The family members accompanying the fishermen are, in most cases, the wife and the children of the interviewee (64 percent), or the wife alone (24 percent), the rest being other persons.
(d) Geographical origin, distance and transport
About 35 percent of the sport fishermen lived in agricultural and suburbanized communities, this is only a little lower than figures shown in the national research. This and other figures show that the sample does not differ much from national figures in this aspect, although the origin on the day of interview is somewhat different giving somewhat higher percentages for the non- and semi-urbanized communities. This results from the geographical origin of the sport fishermen: 10.6 percent came from Flevoland, 71.8 percent from the surrounding provinces and the rest from the northern provinces (11.6 percent) and the western and southern provinces (5.6 percent). These figures are different from those for the whole of sport fishermen in Eastern Flevoland and quite different from the national sport fishermen research. They prove the particularly regional attraction zone of the canal area, although there is a non-negligible number of sport fishermen coming from further away. About 58 percent came from areas adjacent to Eastern Flevoland.
For 48 percent of the sport fishermen the distance (by the shortest road) from their place of origin to the place of the interview on the fishing site was more than 50 km, which is somewhat unusual in Dutch recreation trips. Only 11.6 percent were from a short distance (0–10 km), 40.5 percent between 11 and 50. If one realizes that of the sport fishermen in The Netherlands only 35 percent travel over a distance of more than 10 km to their favourite spot, it is clear that for Eastern Flevoland some attracting factors exist.
One can understand that under these circumstances 94 percent of all interviewees came by car, only 4.2 percent by bicycle and only 1.5 percent on foot, (the national research give a much lower percentage for car and a much higher percentage for bicycle and on foot). Perhaps the fact that two thirds of the groups take along equipment such as tents, awnings, tables and camping chairs (9 percent) or only fishing chairs (56 percent) and often more than one rod, might necessitate car transport. It means that the creation of parking facilities is a necessity.
(e) Choice of place
Compared with the results of the count, the geographical dispersion of the interviewees over the different geographical zones mentioned above shows no great differences (see Table 3).
(f) Intensity of use of Eastern Flevoland and other places
Of the sport fishermen interviewed, about 16 percent were in Eastern Flevoland for the first time and another 11 percent were there for the first year. Three quarters of them had been coming for a longer period, 18 percent even more than 6 years. There was a group who had been coming for many years with a high frequency, for example, 68 percent of those who came more than once said that they did so during the summer fortnightly or more frequently. About 65 percent of them said they came to fish only or chiefly at the weekend, 20 percent do so during weekends and work days; the other 15 percent were more concentrated on work days. This means that in relation to the habits of the average Dutch sport fishermen the area has a relatively strong attraction for them as a weekend recreation area.
Apart from the 16 percent of the respondents who fished for the first time in the area, 8 percent of the interviewees only fished in this area. Eastern Flevoland thus is to most of the interviewees of partial interest. Almost 70 percent of the places where respondents fish outside Flevoland are also situated closer to their living place than the area under study (for 43 percent even very close to the place of residence). Only for 30 percent of the respondents are these fishing sites situated farther away. Of the sites situated closest to the place of residence, 60 percent said they were situated less than 10 km away; of the sites situated the greatest distance this was 43 percent (and only 28 percent farther away than 50 km).
The alternatives to the Eastern Flevoland canals were rivers (37 percent), other canals (20 percent), lakes (11.5 percent) or the sea (7 percent), or combinations of those mentioned. They were used also rather frequently.
The consequence of these fishing habits is that two thirds of the sport fishermen have a total fishing frequency during the summer of once a week or more, 19 percent go fortnightly up to once a week and only 13.5 percent of them go less than fortnightly. The frequency of visits to Eastern Flevoland is more than half of all times people go fishing, showing a very strong integration of Eastern Flevoland in the “leisure life” of the sport fishermen. One may conclude in general that fishing outside Flevoland is done during the week and on short distances, keeping the weekend for a longer trip to Eastern Flevoland.
Only part of the sport fishermen fished in the winter, either in Eastern Flevoland or outside. About 37 percent said they did not fish in the winter, about 39 percent said they did regularly (more than 6 times).
One can understand that 41.5 percent of the interviewees said that sport fishing was for them the most important form of leisure time use and only 10 percent said that it was one of the less important forms. The difference between the time spent on the interview day and on a “normal” day is interesting. Only 26.8 percent of the interviewees would stay less than 4 h, but 44 percent more than 6 h. On a “normal” day 60 percent said they were on the spots in Eastern Flevoland more than 6 h and only 8 percent less than 4 h. The latter is very low in comparison to what is normal among Dutch sport fishermen, of which about 44 percent stay less than 4 h at the first fishing spot and have an average number of 4¼ h. Also the figures for the days of the interview are rather different from the normal Dutch situation. It is a clear indication that in travelling such a distance, most sport fishermen do this if they have much more time than under normal circumstances. The average of 5½ h spent in Eastern Flevoland demonstrates the somewhat extraordinary position of this area and its special attraction.
The consequence is that on “normal” days about 45 percent of the sport fishermen say they arrive at the spot before 06.00 h (against 22 percent on the day of the interview). The time of departure in both cases also is spread over the day but with a somewhat different pattern: on a “normal” day the biggest number leave between 10.00 h and 14.00 h (41 percent), during the interview days this was between 16.00 h and 20.00 h (44 percent).
The following subjects have been selected for further consideration.
(a) Behaviour
The distance people travel to reach Eastern Flevoland and the fishing spot may depend on their opinion about the importance of sport fishing in their leisure time; a growing distance between the place of origin and the fishing spot correspond significantly with a higher percentage of people thinking in terms of more importance of sport fishing. An interesting aspect of this is that there exists a significant relation between the distances outside Eastern Flevoland and inside the polder: the bigger the distances from the place of origin to Eastern Flevoland, the bigger the distances inside the polder (averages are 47 km and 11 km respectively).
The place of origin and the zone where people fish have significant relation in the following sense; although there are very interesting exceptions it is shown that the areas surrounding the polder are especially over-represented, where the zone under discussion is nearest to them. This means that the people coming from the surrounding areas use distance (and costs) as a factor in their choice within an area of rather uniform quality. For people coming from farther away, and their choice of area is a rather far point in the polder, it may be said that within their scope of distance the number of kilometres are less important.
It was also found that the more leisure time (holiday) the shorter was the distance travelled.
(b) Choice of fishing site
People who think that sport fishing is of less importance to them are found more often on the equipped sites. People who think it is the most important leisure activity are found more often on the non-equipped canal banks. The group in between is usually found more often on the rough sites. This is a very important finding because it seems to prove again that the policy has been successful, also qualitatively.
It is also found that people who came from greater distance were usually found more often on the non-equipped banks.
Equipped sites were usually visited more so by people on holiday; the non-equipped banks by people on a free weekend; the rough places near a village by aged people.
(c) Group
There is a relation between the choice and the size of the group; the equipped sites seem to be attractive for both the small groups and the large groups; the rough sites near the villages for the small groups or people fishing alone; the non-equipped banks are usually visited by groups of 3 or 4 persons. It is interesting to note also that the groups become significantly larger with the distance. The number of members and the composition of the group also cohere in the choice of the site; the non-equipped banks are visited relatively more often by sport fishermen with their friends, etc.; the equipped sites mostly by the families. It will be understood that the relative importance of the family diminishes with larger distances. The families are on holiday more than the other groups.
Comparison of the actual fishing group composition with the group composition reported by the sport fishermen shows that those who were with friends thought this was the normal thing and usually fished with their friends.
Groups composed of families in most cases come later to the fishing area than anglers who come alone or with friends and they stop fishing somewhat later. Nevertheless, the number of hours the various groups fish does not differ much.
(d) Angling hours
It is clearly proved that on Saturdays sport fishermen start earlier than on Sundays (50 percent and 28 percent respectively starting before 08.00 h). On Saturdays there is a second peak after lunchtime, Sunday has no real peak. This differs from the working day which shows a peak in the morning and in the afternoon.
Starting time by type of fishing site reveals that on the rough sites near the villages about 60 percent of the fishermen arrive before 08.00 h. Equipped fishing sites were used earlier than the non-equipped banks, particularly on the interview days, and even had a second peak after 14.00 h.
People coming from farther away started relatively earlier than people who came from nearer places. The greater the distance, the earlier people started. The greater the distance, the higher is the number of fishing hours and consequently the shorter the distance, the lower the number of hours spent along the waterside.
It may be added that the investigation proved that people who attach much importance to fishing start earlier than those who think it is less important. Under normal circumstances people from more urbanized communities fish longer than those coming from the less urbanized communities, and also that people who fished longer on the interview day fish for long periods under normal circumstances anyway.
Can the sport fishermen be grouped in types or not? The national research has shown that this is a very difficult question. Following Mr. Kamphorst's example we tried to create types not based on the frequency of fishing only, but also based on the opinion of the sport fisherman about the importance of sport fishing for him within his whole leisure time. Giving more points for a higher frequency of fishing in summer and winter as well as for a higher importance of sport fishing three groups could be formed, which, in accordance with Kamphorst, were called “occasional sport fishermen”, “hobby fishermen” and “passionate sport fishermen”. Their relative position is respectively 19.1 percent, 41.1 percent and 37.8 percent. The question arises whether these types have some function in research.
In the first place it must be said that the correlation between the factors which form the score, and thus the types, is very high; this could be foreseen a little.
It is further noted that:
Hobby and passionate fishermen fish longer than occasional fishermen. They do not start nor end earlier.
The three groups do not differ in the type of day they fished during the interview or in general.
The occasional fishermen are in general more restricted to one zone than the two other groups, passionate fishermen being more mobile, also outside Flevoland.
The occasional fishermen were more on holiday than the other two groups.
No difference existed according to age.
It appears that the more passionate groups are ready to travel longer distances; in Flevoland as well as outside Flevoland.
The occasional sport fisherman is often found on the equipped fishing site (49.5 percent), in comparison to the hobby fishermen (41 percent) and the passionate fishermen (31 percent). On the other hand, the passionate sport fisherman is relatively more often found on the non-equipped banks and the rough sites than the occasional sport fisherman. The correlation, however, is not very strong.
The three groups do not differ in the equipment they brought with them.
The number of people accompanying the sport fishermen does not differ between the types.
On the other hand, the occasional sport fisherman was more often in the company of his family than the two other groups; the passionate sport fishermen were relatively more in company of a friend than the two other groups and were more often alone. It seems that the passionate sport fishermen are selecting their company more on the basis of the same activity and the occasional fishermen more on the basis of their primary relationship.
The views stated about the equipped sport fishing sites were the same in the three groups, this seems to be rather astonishing.
In this paper some of the relations between people visiting the sport fishing facilities in Eastern Flevoland and the area have been indirectly formulated. The following questions were asked to the sport fishermen:
What was their opinion on equipped fishing sites? If negative or positive, why?
What were their wishes in relation to the equipped sites or to the ideal fishing situation?
In the case of (a) the answers show a high degree of satisfaction with the equipped sites; 72 percent of the respondents have a positive opinion.
In the case of (b) 60 percent of those asked reacted positively to this question. Opinions were expressed concerning the sphere of the site in connexion with shrubs, reeds, etc., (19.5 percent) the geographical situation (17 percent), the quality of water and fish (16 percent), the spot (13.5 percent) as well as the accommodation (12.3 percent).
More than 15 percent of the respondents wanted ease of access, another 10 percent wanted no more accommodation than is normal, natural setting, quietness, etc.
The accommodation people wish is primarily concentrated on sanitary provisions, parking and garbage cans (respectively 36.7 percent, 27.1 percent and 27 percent). Almost no interest is placed on the provisions for non-fishing visitors (3.4 percent). In the opinion of the respondents the confirmation of the present provisions is the only important matter.
On equipped sites most attention is given to the sanitary provisions and on the non-equipped banks to the parking facilities. These items are also seen as important on the rough sites.
Research in these fields must be carried out better from the methodological point of view.
The interview method proved to be a very good way to get deeper insight into angling in Flevoland.
The foregoing paper gives an insight into what has been done in the field of research among sport fishermen in Eastern Flevoland. It is hoped that some research workers, under comparable circumstances, will be helped by the description and analyses and also that a generalized national research programme benefits from regional and local research to bring out special aspects required for local and regional integration of sport fishing planning.
