Statewide recreational fishing survey

The statewide recreational fishing survey provides recreational fishing catch and effort information necessary to ensure Queenslanders can continue to enjoy fishing in the future.

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How we use the results

Understanding the catch and effort and participation rate of recreational fishers is an important part of sustainably managing Queensland's fisheries.

The survey data is aggregated to provide statewide and regional information about:

  • recreational fishing participation rates and the number of Queenslanders who go fishing
  • where and how Queenslanders go recreational fishing
  • which species, and how many of those species Queenslanders catch and release
  • fishing-related expenditure (to help us understand the economics of recreational fishing).

The information recreational fishers provide is confidential and de-indentified.

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    The statewide recreational fishing survey is conducted every few years to estimate how many Queensland residents go fishing in Queensland, how often they go fishing and how many fish they catch.

    We use this information to ensure Queenslanders can continue to enjoy fishing in the future.

    To maintain the highest standard of data collection and statistical analysis, we engage independent population survey experts to coordinate the survey and collect fishing information.

    Households across the state are called at random to get a balanced sample of Queensland fishers.

    If anyone in the household is planning to go fishing in the next 12 months, they are invited to join the 12-month logbook survey.

    If we only collected information from highly skilled fishers, the total catch and effort would be overestimated.

    For the estimates to be accurate, households must be selected at random, and not be biased towards certain types of fishers.

    This is why households are contacted randomly at the beginning of the survey.

    Households that join the logbook survey record all their fishing information for 12 months.

    Each time they go fishing they record where they went fishing, how many people went fishing with them, how long they fished for, what fishing gear they used, what they caught, and any purchases they made, including fuel or bait.

    During the survey, our scientists routinely check participant information to make sure their fishing information is accurate--including species identification and catch locations.

    If necessary, fishers are contacted to clarify the information they have submitted.

    At the end of the 12-month survey, the information is statistically weighted using population benchmarks from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

    Each household is given a weighting factor based on demographic information about the members of the household.

    This allows us to estimate Queensland’s total statewide fishing activity.

    All of the statewide and regional estimates from our recreational fishing surveys are available on an online dashboard.

    To take a look at the dashboard and find out more about the survey, visit fisheries.qld.gov.au.

2019–20 survey

The Social Research Centre (SRC) completed the latest statewide recreational fishing survey which covered the 2019/20 period.

Phase 1: Initial screening

The SRC contacted more than 8,500 households across Queensland via landline and mobile numbers between February and April 2019.

Recipients were asked if they:

  • fished recreationally in the last 12 months
  • intended on fishing recreationally in the next 12 months.

Households that intended to fish were invited to take part in the 12-month recreational fishing activity logbook phase.

Based on these conversations it was estimated that almost 943,000 Queenslanders went recreational fishing in Queensland during 2018–19 (the year prior to the 12-month logbook phase).

Phase 2: Activity logbook

More than 2,100 recreational fishing households took part in the 12-month recreational fishing activity logbook phase.

During this phase, participating fishers recorded their fishing activity and expenditure shortly after they went fishing, either by a phone call from our interviewers, or logging the activity via the online survey portal.

Results:

  • Approximately 660,000 Queenslanders went recreational fishing in Queensland in 2019–20 (based on the number of trips recorded in logbooks)
  • Logbook participants recorded approximately 2.8 million fishing days over the 12-month period (which is similar to previous years)
  • Queenslanders spent approximately $600 million on recreational fishing items.

Differences in participation rates between 2018–19 and 2019–20 are due to the different periods and the different methods (phone survey and log books) used to calculate the estimates for each year.

Reports

Previous surveys

Last updated: 10 Jul 2024