Recreational fishing and boating: Are the determinants the same?

• Uses data from 656 households in Townsville region adjacent to the GBR.
• Finds differences in determinants for boating, boat fishing and land-based fishing trips.
• Highlights importance of disaggregating fishing and boating when developing policies and enforcement strategies.

The research uses household survey data collected from 656 people in Townsville (adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef, Australia) within a hurdle model to investigate key factors influencing both the probability of participating and the frequency of (a) boating trips which involve fishing; (b) boating trips which do not involve fishing; and (c) land-based fishing trips. The findings suggest that there are differences in determinants, highlighting the importance of disaggregating the fishing/boating and boat/land-based experience (an uncommon practice in the literature) if wishing to obtain information for use in the design of monitoring programs, policy and/or for developing monitoring and enforcement strategies relating to fishing and boating.