Sustainability Initiatives of Fly-Fishing Lodges: A Global Approach

Despite fly-fishing's growing popularity, there are few studies on its environmental and social impacts.The present study is the first large-scale investigation of the fly-fishing lodge sector and its sustainability practices.A sampling frame of global fly-fishing lodges was created by including lodges featured by several major fly-fishing outfitters, fly-fishing travel companies, and publications.A sample of 196 lodges was drawn and their websites analyzed with respect to sustainability communications.The analysis indicated that although the web presence of fly-fishing lodges is high (only 16.3% of the sample did not have a website), reporting on sustainability initiatives is low.The most popular initiatives included catch and release practices, renewable energy use, restoration of habitats, support for local community, and growing organic food.While many lodges explicitly promoted access to remote areas, they rarely addressed their own impacts and sustainability performance.