Fishing

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Angling, Freshwater Fishing, Shore Fishing, Game Fishing, Coarse Fishing, Fish Pond

Categories

Activities, Sporting Activities, Tourism, Recreation, Outdoor Recreation

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the possibility of fishing

	Source	Description
	EJP	Human figure on ground with fishing-rod and line, water shown as wavy line, ground indicated by horizontal line
	U.S. National Park Service	Human figure on pier with fishing-rod and line, water shown as wavy line, pier indicated by three lines
	CNIS	Sitting human figure with fishing-rod and line, water shown as two wavy lines
	BS 8501:2002	Sitting human figure with fishing-rod and fish on the line, water shown as two wavy lines
*	ÖNORM A 3011-4	Human figure with fishing-rod and fish on the line, water shown as two wavy lines
	SADC	Human figure with fishing-rod and fish on the line, water shown as wavy line
	Erco	Human figure with fishing-rod and fish on the line, water shown as two wavy lines
	NZS 8603	Human figure with fishing-rod, water shown as two wavy lines
	DER	Human figure with fishing-rod, water shown as two wavy lines
	Nova Scotia	Human figure with fishing-rod, water shown as three wavy lines
	SIS	Fish on a hook, water shown as two wavy lines below
*	ON Testdesign	Water shown as wavy line, fishhook and fish
	PC	Water shown as wavy line, fishhook and fish
	Ecuador	Fishing line with hook and fish, bubbles
	Québec	Fishing line with hook and fish
	U.S. National Park Service	Fishing line with hook and fish
*	ON Testdesign	Fishhook and fish
	Peru MST	Fishhook and fish
	SSRS	Fish on the line
	BTA 1989	Fish on the line
	BTA 1989	Side view of fish
	BTA 1989	Fishhook

Discussion

Pictograms available to indicate the possibility of fishing vary to a large extent, not only in fine details, but also concerning the image contents. These reach from just a fishhook or a side view of a fish, combinations of fishhook and fish, to all kinds of more complex compositions, as for example variants showing a human figure on a pier or sitting with a fishing-rod and line plus water shown as wavy lines. No single visual stereotype can be identified for this message.

Test results found in our database cover several image contents in use:

In a Comprehension Test conducted in Austria (Brugger, 1983) with the examples for Fishing above marked with a *, all variants reached good comprehension scores. The pictogram labeled as ÖNORM A 3011-4, based on a human figure with fishing-rod and fish on the line plus water shown as two wavy lines, proved to be almost perfectly comprehensible. Regarding variants with no human figure displayed, showing water seemed to improve comprehensibility. Pictograms just showing a fish as in the BTA variant for Coarse Fishing should not be used, as such pictograms often are used to signify Aquarium.

In a study on guessability of traffic signs among young students, also one sign for Fishing was examined. This sign showing a fishhook and a fish reached the maximum guessability score of 100 % (Ng & Chan, 2007).

Gehringer (1976) reported in a paper on pictograms about sporting activities, that showing a person exercising a sport is often preferred to the display of the equipment alone.

Recommendation

ÖNORM A 3011 Public Information Symbol No 93: Fishing

Based on data known, we recommend the use of pictogram 93 from ÖNORM A 3011 part 4, as it proved to be almost perfectly comprehensible.

Tests of pictograms of referent Fishing

Brugger, Ch. (1983): Abschlußbericht über den Erkennungstest. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated May 1983, Vienna.

Gehringer, J. (1976): Reihungstest über 18 Begriffe aus dem Sportwesen - Priorität I. Report to the Austrian Standards Institute (ON) dated January 1976, Vienna.

Ng, A. & Chan, A. (2007): The guessability of traffic signs: Effects of prospective-user factors and sign design features. Accident; analysis and prevention. 39. 1245-57.