Angling Trust throws its support behind the Sea Angling Diary Project

The Angling Trust is joining Defra, the Welsh Government, Cefas and Substance in calling for sea anglers in England and Wales to sign up to the Sea Angling Diary project.

The project invites sea anglers to provide information on how often they fish, what they catch and what they spend. This informs UK governments and angling federations about the value of sea angling for our economy and how marine fisheries can be managed more efficiently and sustainably.

In the Sea Angling Diary project, sea anglers volunteer as ‘citizen scientists’ and have, since 2016, provided data on over 48,000 sessions and 362,000 catch records from 216,000 hours of angling activity. They have also contributed to understanding the economic benefits, broader societal benefits around well-being, and the impacts of Covid on sea angling in the UK. The Angling Trust is joining forces with the project to call for more sea anglers to get involved in 2022 to further enhance our understanding of the sector.

Stuart Singleton-White, Angling Trust, said:

‘Many of us love to go sea fishing and are passionate about protecting our marine environment and fish stocks. Supporting the diary project will not only help us to do that, by providing valuable data, it will also provide further evidence to the government, and others, of the valuable economic and social contribution we make to many coastal communities around England and Wales.’

Find out more at www.substance.net/feature-pages/make-catch-count-count-catch/