Overview

Working for a coalition of angling, conservation and tourism groups, Probe Research created the first-ever economic impact study of an outdoor activity Manitoba is famous for – ice and summer fishing for walleye on Lake Winnipeg.

What We Did

  • To calculate local spending, we surveyed hundreds of anglers from Manitoba and beyond by going ice shack to ice shack, reaching out online and through fishing membership lists, backstopped by Probe’s quarterly, scientific omnibus survey.
  • In addition to spending data, we explored the attitudes, values and policy preferences of Manitoba’s 100,000 fishers using a custom series of surveys.
  • We partnered with the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics to deploy its definitive economic impact modeling capabilities.

Outcomes

Using Probe’s short, colourful and plain-language report, the Manitoba Wildlife Federation, the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters, Travel Manitoba and others used the data to push for better conservation rules to protect the sustainability of the province’s walleye stocks.