Hook & Bait

American Demographics, Nov 1, 2002 by Pamela Paul

Byline: PAMELA PAUL

When Johnny Espinoza learned how to fish last spring, he wasn't exactly surrounded by the great outdoors. The then 11-year-old's introduction to fishing took place in a city playground, which was less than half a block in size and only a five-minute walk from his Los Angeles home. The playing field was transformed into a makeshift "campground" where counselors pitched tents, gave lectures on water safety and taught urban youngsters like Espinoza how to bait and cast a pole using Hula Hoops laid out on the ground.

The "camping trip" was courtesy of Wonderful Outdoor World (WOW), a project sponsored by various public and private groups (such as the U.S. Forest Service and the Walt Disney Company) to encourage outdoor sports, including camping and fishing, among urban youth. While the number of outdoor recreational activities has risen in recent years, the number of people choosing to fish and hunt has dropped significantly. Once the domain of white males, the fishing and hunting industries are now reaching beyond their core demographic in a bid to gain popularity with the next generation - the multiethnic, urban, video-obsessed and easily bored. "This is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry," says Frank Hugelmeyer, president of the Boulder, Colo.-based Outdoor Industry Association, a trade group for outdoor industry suppliers. "Hunting and fishing have to be introduced at an early age in order to become lifelong activities. Baby Boomers grew up participating with their families, but Gen X and Gen Y grew up with the computer and television instead."

Indeed, enthusiasm for hunting and fishing among young people has been declining since the early 1990s. Angler participation rates among those ages 18 to 24 dropped to 13 percent in 2001, from 20 percent in 1991, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Today, just 9 percent of the country's 34 million anglers are between the ages of 18 and 24, down from 13 percent a decade ago. Hunting has had similar declines, with overall participation among 18- to 24-year-olds, dropping to 6 percent last year, from 9 percent in 1991. Those ages 18 to 24 make up just 10 percent of the nation's 13 million hunters today, down from 14 percent in 1991. Moreover, a special report by the Fish and Wildlife Service in February 2000 found that blacks and Hispanics are far less likely to hunt and fish than the general population. Industry experts warn that unless more boys and girls - black, Hispanic and white - are recruited, these time-honored wildlife sports could die out.

There are several reasons for the decline. For one, kids today grow up with a different type of parent - one who is more pressed for time. The rise in dual-career and single-parent households means there's less opportunity for a weekend-long family outing. Joe Mueller, spokesman for the Greater St. Louis Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, sees this in his own family. Raised by an avid duck hunter and fisherman, Mueller grew up taking part in both sports. "I just don't have the time - and neither does my wife, who works part-time," Mueller says. "We can't just get up at 4 in the morning and go." Not surprisingly, neither can others: In 1996, 809 out of 13,000 of the region's Boy Scouts were awarded fishing merit badges. Among last year's 15,000 members, only 543 earned the badge.

Then there are our increasingly indoor, sedentary lifestyles. In some schools, computer classes have replaced physical education, which used to be almost universal but today remains in roughly one-fourth of public schools. What's more, the rise in Internet usage has contributed to a decline in overall outdoor recreation among some teens. A 2001 study conducted by RoperASW for the Washington, D.C.-based American Recreation Coalition (ARC) found that the drop in outdoor recreation participation was most pronounced among 18- to 29-year-olds, whose "frequent participation rate" (defined as participating in an outdoor activity several times a week or more) dropped to nearly the same level as that of 30- to 40-year-olds. "Computers have had a huge impact on people's outdoor recreation," says Mike May, spokesman for the North Palm Beach, Fla.-based Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA). "Four hours can go by on a Saturday afternoon - writing e-mails, working on school projects, surfing the Internet, playing games - time that could have been spent hunting."

Additionally, there's a plethora of competing activities, - everything from doing homework and taking college prep courses to playing video games and participating in other sports. Those youngsters who actually do manage some physical activity are dabbling in a wide variety of sports, spending less time on more activities, says Derrick Crandell, president of the ARC, a national nonprofit federation of over 100 recreation-oriented groups. In 1988, the SGMA tracked more than 60 sports; today it counts 103 activities in its survey. Among them are: camping, hiking, rock-climbing and edgier "extreme" or "adrenaline" sports such as kayaking, windsurfing and mountain-biking.