West Midlands leads licence growth boom

THE WEST Midlands accounted for the biggest rise in newcomers to angling in 2020, new figures have shown.

At the end of November 2020, there were just over 151,000 full licence holders in that region, a rise of 17 per cent over 12 months, with the region of Greater Manchester and Merseyside showing the next biggest increase (up 16.4 per cent to 86,000), followed by Cumbria and Lancashire (up 15.5 per cent to 45,000).

The figures, released by the Environment Agency, revealed that a further 12 regions showed an increase in participation during that timeframe, helping to contribute to an overall rise of 108,000 in the number of rod licence holders.

The West Midlands remains the region with the most overall licence holders, followed by East Anglia (133,000) and Yorkshire (105,000).

The EA also revealed how the overall growth in sales has continued in the months leading up to Christmas, in spite of the Covid pandemic and unfavourable weather conditions.

A spokesperson for the Agency told us:

“Despite traditionally being a quieter time of year for fishing, in October, 36,851 people bought a fishing licence, and a further 18,928 licences were sold in November.”