Gross numbers are misleading unless you have the population from which they are taken.

2,268 anglers left but 2,268 out of what? Out of 136,836 in 2008. This is 1.6% of the 2008 stamp buyers. Then 10,000 new stamps or 4 times as many that were lost in 4 years were gained in a single year from 2008 to 2009.

So if 2,268 lost over 4 years is a big deal the gain of 10,000 gained in a year should be very big deal.

I'm not against doing the survey.

What I am against is the slanting of statistics to make it seem as if the sky is falling when in reality, the data tells a totally different story.

This sometimes happens when a researcher massages the data to add importance to their project. It seems more important to say that 2,268 anglers left rather than to say that 1.6% faithful anglers left over a 4 year period. And that statement seems more important than to say that than .4% (less than 1/200) leave per year. They all are true but they convey a different sense of urgency.