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PESTEL ANALYSIS 

We are happy you decided to dive deeper! On this page, you’ll get the chance to enhance your knowledge regarding the industry of recreational fishing. Below you may find a so-called PESTEL analysis, providing you with a conclusive and structured way of overviewing the different external - and sometimes internal -  forces affecting the industry and its future. PESTEL is an abbreviation with each letter representing a type of force: political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal. If you’d like to learn more about PESTEL analysis, make sure to check out this website. But if you want to dive straight into the analysis, click on the letters below!

P

E

POLITICAL

ECONOMICAL

S

SOCIAL

  • Sea based wind power

  • Ambitious EU regulations 

  • Government climate goals 

  • Government initiative to preserve fish species 

  • Potential laws following ethical debate 

  • Less funds for env. preservation

  • Increasing military activity and awareness 

  • Growing potential customer base

  • Growing buying expenses from fishermen

  • Growing sales through e-commerce 

  • New potential revenue streams from new tech

  • Debate regarding ethics of recreational fishing

  • Little to no change in gender distributions

  • Increasing interest in the sport

  • Getting more expensive to fish

  • Popular fish, sea trout, is sensitive to rise in temperature

T

TECHNOLOGICAL

E

ENVIRONMENTAL

L

LEGAL

  • Disruptive technologies

  • Global warming

  • Spread of invasive species 

  • Marine wind turbines

  • Conservational laws of fish species 

  • Recyclable fishing equipment laws

Conclusion - strongest factors and synergies

In order to visualize how influential we believe the different forces are, an Impact-Uncertainty matrix is presented. The higher the impact, the greater the effect will be of each respective force in our view. The greater the uncertainty, the greater unpredictability we believe there is regarding if and how this force will play out. 

For instance, the potential impact of governmental regulations are great. They could prohibit certain fishing practices, and in general inhibit the enthusiasm surrounding the activity. The same can be said about the possible ethical debate, which may lead to a change in public opinion regarding fishing and also result in legislation. However, these forces bolster a great amount of uncertainty, resulting in their final positions in the matrix. Global warming on the other hand has massive potential influence on the industry, with both direct and indirect consequences. Climate change is essentially a certainty according to science, resulting in the position of the force in the matrix.

 

Global warming is as stated the most impactful force - so great that we believe it will influence the magnitude of other forces as well. As the effects of global warming become ever more apparent, politics will react with new legislation and innovation will pave the way for new businesses. The fishermen themselves will probably become increasingly prone to protect their beloved sport. The complexity of global warming is unparalleled - this is only the tip of the iceberg. 


This is why we decided to gather temperature data with our sensor - to enable regular sport fishermen like yourself to be part of something bigger. Become a citizen scientist today and combat the greatest challenge of our generation: global warming.

P

POLITICAL

The political environment impacts all aspects of society, and as such also the industry of recreational fishing. Currently, the political debate is more focused around the preservation of the Baltic Sea than the Swedish west coast, but this may change in the near future as an effect of the ambitious projects regarding sea based wind power. The ifs and buts surrounding these wind turbines have been discussed for a while, but now they are finally being introduced along the west coast leading to large uncertainties regarding marine life and trickle down effects. Furthermore, as Sweden is a particularly environmentally conscious country, future regulations of fish preservation may strike either positively or negatively on the sport fishing community. On one hand, this may enable the ecosystems on which the sport relies to recover and flourish; on the other, it may inhibit the sport too much. Moreover, as Sweden is part of the EU we are bound to obey the international policies governed from Brussels. These include particularly ambitious aims to protect 30% of all land and sea to preserve biodiversity - an ambitious goal, but how these political goals in combination with future regulations with similar objectives may impact our hobby is yet to be fully seen. Finally, there is a joker in the deck, namely the ethical debate. As more thoroughly explained in the Social-section, there is an ongoing trend surrounding animal wellbeing. Social debates have a tendency to, if they reach a certain point of momentum, have an effect on the political debate and in the long run on legislation. This is after all a good thing - political endeavors are meant to reflect the values of the current generation. But if the ethical debate surrounding sport fishing gets an upswing in the coming years, one shan’t be surprised if the politics follow and in some way impede the practices of recreational fishing.

E

ECONOMICAL

The economics of the sportfishing industry is influenced by multiple forces. Mainly, new tech is emerging and has the potential to create completely new revenue streams through specialized tech and digital products. However, this is still associated with great uncertainty. Also, the sales through e-commerce have grown rapidly and have already replaced much of the sales through physical stores, showing that customers are keen to adapt to the added comfort of shopping their new fishing gear from home. According to a study conducted by HaV, the fishing industry has experienced an increase in total spending on fishing equipment in recent years. This upward trend in expenditure serves as a powerful catalyst for bolstering the economic resources within this sector.

S

SOCIAL

Recreational fishing attracts people from all walks of life, with over 1.5 million Swedes indulging in the sport every year. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, recreational fishing has been growing even further as it provided a hobby where social distancing was part of the package. Thus, the community is now thriving more than ever. 

Historically a male-dominated hobby, recent years have defied the old gender norms as there has been an increase of females and a more gender neutral culture surrounding the sport. The community is also seeing the positive effects of digitalization and digital transformation. Whilst not as extensive as in some other industries, technology such as applications as well as an increased possibility of data sharing has made sport fishermen more and more connected via the internet. Moreover, recreational fishermen are in general more environmentally conscious than others, as they would be the first to acknowledge the values that nature brings. The future environmental changes may pose a threat to the practice of recreational fishing, but as so, it could also mean a prospect for the community to stick together more than ever when facing a crisis. 

On a different note, one may look to the possibility of an impending ethical debate concerning animal welfare. A yet somewhat slumbering debate, there are still voices calling the act of recreational fishing inhumane; tricking un-knowing fish, hooking them and sometimes putting them back in the water after the stressful experience is regarded as brutal by some. As culture evolves there is a possibility that this point of view gets more and more common, potentially harming the reputation of the sport fishing community among the general public. In countries such as Germany and Switzerland, laws have been passed forbidding the act of catch and release. The future will tell whether similar regulations will be passed here, and whether this debate will have any potency at all.

T

TECHNOLOGICAL

The technological aspect of this industry is one that is currently thriving and has great potential. 

The industry has thus far been less tech-focused than others due to its nature and recreational fishermen have been hesitant to introduce complicated equipment in their routines. However applications and other tech have started to penetrate the market due to the promise of finding better fishing waters and increasing catches. More and more people are now utilizing these tools and that appears to be the trend especially with the younger generation. Another interesting aspect of integrating technology into the sport is the potential for data collecting for research and preservation of ecosystems. Live sensors, photographing and weighing fish and more result in invaluable information of subsequent effects of e.ge rising temperatures or other stressor to fishes.

E

ENVIRONMENTAL

The environmental factor affects the sportfishing industry mostly in regards to the health of the fish populations and the ocean itself. As of now, the most impactful environmental factor is, of course, global warming. Historically, the sea has had a buffering effect, “swallowing” changes in the global climate - but recent studies show that this no longer is the case as the surface temperature now has started to rise up. Global warming will have profound effects on the native species of fish as even though they can to some extent adapt to the rising temperatures, there will come a time when that temperature comes too close to the theoretical “concrete ceiling”. If the temperature rises above this ceiling a population may be eradicated. This threshold is of course different for every species, but one of the species with a lower threshold is the one of the fishermen’s favorite - the sea trout, being part of one of the overall less enduring (temperature wise) families of fish. Even though the average temperature probably won't reach the ceiling directly, a heat wave might push the temperature over the limit - and they get more potent and occur more frequently as an effect of climate change. Furthermore, as fish have the same internal temperature as the water around them the increase in temperature will lead to a higher rate of metabolism. This means that they consume more oxygen, but unfortunately the warmer water holds less oxygen. This means that not only do they need more oxygen, but have access to less as a result of the warmer water. As a natural result of these physiological pressures on the fish, some species which are already pushing the limits on temperature may soon migrate north, leaving dents in the ecosystems and leaving sport fishermen empty handed. Moreover, the direct effects of rising temperatures are not the only threat to the native fish species. The rising temperatures allows for invasive species to migrate into new waters and compete with the native species for food, putting further pressure on the already vulnerable native species. Global warming also brings a massive issue with acidification, as a result of carbon dioxide dissolving in the sea creating carbonic acid. This is especially impactful on crustaceans, mussels and similar groups of species, whose exoskeletons dissolve as they consist of calcium carbonate which has a buffering effect. As such, food for the fish disappears, putting stress on their chances of thriving.

L

LEGAL

Recreational fishing is largely affected by EU legislation; mainly for the preservation of species. In practice, said laws limit the amount of fish of a certain species to be catched or the creation of safe zones to promote flora and fauna that is off limits to fishermen. Legislation in Sweden is entirely dependent on data collection which is usually provided by universities in cooperation with government agencies. Some of the laws regulate what kind of equipment that is allowed to be used e.g. equipment without heavy metals. The current trend is one of sustainability and recyclability, as part of the aspirations of a circular economy.

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