Fly Fishing as a Vehicle of Social Change: Reframing Participation in Outdoor Recreation

Tuesday - September 12 2023, 04:40 UTC - 1 year ago

Through a recent examination of the the nonprofit group Trout Unlimited, it was found that this organization has effectively reframed the sport of fishing as a means of environmental conservation, using catch and release practices to drive social change. By shifting emphasis to recreational fishing rather than harvesting activities, Trout Unlimited has created an emotional appeal to outdoor recreation that also promotes stewardship of the environment.

Summer and fall are prime times for getting outdoors across the U.S. According to an annual survey produced by the outdoor industry, 55% of Americans age 6 and up participated in some kind of outdoor recreation in 2022, and that number is on the rise. However, the activities they choose are shifting. Over the past century, participation has declined in some activities, such as hunting, and increased in others, like bird-watching. These shifts reflect many factors, including demographic trends and urbanization. But outdoor activities also have their own cultures, which can powerfully affect how participants think about nature.

As scholars who think about organizational theory, management and entrepreneurship, we are interested in understanding effective ways to promote social change. In a recent study, we analyzed the work of the nonprofit group Trout Unlimited, which centers on protecting rivers and streams across the U.S. that harbor wild and native trout and salmon. We found that since its founding in 1959, Trout Unlimited has pursued a unique type of social change. Historically, people fished to obtain food – but Trout Unlimited has reframed the sport as a vehicle for environmental conservation. It did this by gradually shifting members from catch and keep practices to catch and release, with fish carefully returned to the water. In our view, this strategy offers a powerful example of energizing social change through care, rather than disruptive strategies that emphasize power, anger and fearmongering.

A sport that inspires devotion .

Fishing is very popular in the U.S.: As of 2016, more then 35 million Americans fished, mainly in fresh water. Trout Unlimited was founded in 1959 on the banks of Michigan’s Au Sable River with the aim of building a strong conservation ethic among anglers. Today, the group has more than 300,000 members spanning hundreds of local chapters across the U.S.

Many Trout Unlimited members prefer fly fishing, a technique that uses a rod, reel, specialized weighted fishing line and artificial flies designed to mimic trout’s natural food sources. Trout generally thrive in beautiful, fast-flowing, cold-water streams and rivers; to catch them, fly fishers repeatedly cast a line so that their lure moves like a flying insect landing and floating on the water. It’s a sport that combines deep knowledge of a specific location with time-honored techniques.

In the 1653 classic "The Compleat Angler," English writer Izaak Walton called fly fishing "an art worthy the knowledge and practice of a wise man." Norman Maclean’s 1976 book "A River Runs Through It," which recounts the author’s childhood experiences fishing Montana’s Big Blackfoot River, declares, "In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing." Changing the practices of devoted anglers is no small feat.

Fly-fishing and stewardship .

The first stage of change that Trout Unlimited pursued in its interactions with members was what we call mending – fixing aspects of a practice that are seen as problematic or damaging. For Trout Unlimited, that meant subtly removing harvesting practice from images of fly fishing in its promotional materials, switching the focus from taking fish home to respecting the fish by releasing them back to nature.

Not only did this lead to a shift toward catch and release, but it also created the ideal conditions for a new stage of change: improving. This includes making sure the fish are returned alive to the water, caring for the environment to increase the likelihood of successful reproduction, and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for trout that have experienced periods of low oxygen levels.

Trout Unlimited has made other strides, offering opportunities for members to understand and experience what it means to be a steward of the environment, while improving their skills as anglers. Many of its local chapters now hold events to promote the transportation of fish, particularly for big rafting families, which can help introduce new practices to anglers from different cultural backgrounds.

The positive response to its mending and improving strategies has been remarkable. The average Trout Unlimited member today is increasingly likely to engage in stewardship activities and less likely to embrace traditional sporting practices that involve harvesting fish for food or entertainment.

We believe these results offer new ways of thinking about social change. Instead of focusing purely on individual motivation or enforcement, Trout Unlimited is able to use the power of culture to drive behavior change. By making small changes to how society views the environment and outdoor recreation, the powerful emotional appeal of fishing can help create a more sustainable balanced with our planet's resources.