How to Bait the Hook: Identifying What Motivates Anglers to Participate in a Volunteer Angler Data Program

Volunteer angler data programs can help to address challenges in collecting recreational fisheries data. However, recruiting and retaining participants can be difficult. This study surveyed participants in the Angler Action Program to identify motivations and barriers to participation. Results showed that participants were most motivated by the desire to improve fisheries data, contribute to original research, and benefit scientists as well as to improve fisheries for the enjoyment of all. Individual benefits (except those related to learning) or subjective norms (“peer pressure”) were not important motivations. Participating anglers shared motivations in common with citizen scientists in other fields. Satisfaction with fisheries management and science was similar between participants and nonparticipants, indicating that dissatisfaction with either was not a major motivation. The biggest barrier to participation for nonparticipants (i.e., those who enrolled in the program but never entered data) was lack of knowledge about the program, and a decrease in fishing; the time it takes to enter data, software difficulties, and forgetting were also cited. Outreach and feedback addressing participants’ main motivations—for example, by providing data syntheses and illustrating the value of the data to science and management—may offer the most effective avenues for recruiting and retaining participants.