Ranking alongside Harry Potter, flat screen televisions, the X Factor and UGG boots, an old pastime has emerged as one of the surprising winners of the noughties.

According to new figures released today by the Environment Agency, the centuries’ old sport of angling has seen a dramatic resurgence in popularity over the past decade - including during the current recession.

Almost 1.5 million licences to fish in England and Wales have been sold this year – a 12 percent increase on 2008, and an all-time record. In 2000, sales were around 1 million.

Better angling opportunities, free angling guides - such as the Environment Agency’s popular ‘Where to go fishing’ online guide - and the credit crunch, are all believed to have played their part in creating the record-breaking trend.

Significant improvements in water quality in urban rivers and canals over the past two decades has also been key. Once grossly polluted waters like the rivers Wandle, Taff, Mersey, Don, and Irwell and the canals of Birmingham, now support healthy fish populations and offer excellent fishing to local people.

Mat Crocker, the Environment Agency’s Head of Fisheries, said: “Though there’s still much to do, more and more of our rivers are now supporting healthy fish populations. The result is that major coarse fishing rivers such as the Severn, Thames and lower Trent have been providing consistently good fishing.

“There are now salmon in all of the rivers of the South Wales coalfield that once ran black with coal and this year we have tracked one salmon to the top of the Rhondda thanks to a huge turnaround in water quality and works to help fish swim further upstream.

“As well as this boost to fish stocks, we have also distributed over a million free angling guides this year to make it easier to find a local fishing spot, and, with the recession biting, angling is becoming increasingly popular as a cheap and cheerful pastime. An annual coarse fishing rod licence costs £26 which works out at 50p a week.“

Licence sales generated over £23 million in revenue for the Environment Agency in 2008, and this year’s increase is estimated to bring an extra £3 million, all of which will be re-invested in helping to maintain and improve fisheries. The Environment Agency also has plans to revitalise and transform over 9,000 miles of river by 2015, creating new fisheries and fish passes to help fish navigate man-made structures such as locks and weirs, and more angling opportunities.

To supplement this, the Environment Agency’s fish farms put over 350,000 farm-reared fish into rivers each year to enhance angling at popular fishing spots and to re-populate rivers after pollution incidents.