Fishing News
Fishing's impact on economy is huge
By Gene Mueller
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Craig Springer writes, "From Dame Juliana to Nick Lyons, for 500 years writers have waxed poetic about the virtues and vices of fishing. Some lament the challenges, others applaud the rewards. Izaak Walton wrote in his 1653 Compleat Angler that fishing 'will prove to be a virtue, a reward unto itself.' No doubt, as any fishing aficionado knows, the sport has its intrinsic value. The rewards of fishing are many, and one of them is coin in the coffer."
Springer, a fisheries biologist, recalls this past July, when New Mexico's national forests reopened after a two-month closure because of fire. "You could hear money dropping in the cash register," he wrote. "Most of New Mexico's trout waters are in its national forests, and fishermen headed back to the water.
"Fishing is big business, not only in New Mexico, but around the U.S., and the positive impact to the economy is measurably large according to the USF&WS; 2001 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation."
For example, in New Mexico alone last year, 314,000 anglers spent about $175million on their piscatorial pursuits. Nearly $77million went toward fishing gear, $30million for transportation and $36million for food and lodging. That number is easily doubled in East Coast states like Maryland and Virginia, where freshwater and saltwater fishing opportunities are in ample supply.
Nationwide, 34million licensed anglers spent nearly $36billion last year, and that number alone contributed nicely to the gross domestic product. Actually, anglers spend much more than that, but figures are hard to come by when you have only the number of freshwater licensed anglers thought to live in the United States.
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