Global Data

UNITED STATES

“In 2004, approximately 82 million marine recreational fishing trips were taken by 14 million anglers, generating more than $34 billion in economic activity and supporting nearly 360,000 jobs.”

— Southwick Associates, Economic Contributions of Recreational Fisheries

Key sources include:

• Home-page for ‘National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation‘ (incl addendum to the 2001 and 2006 reports e.g. ‘Black Bass and Trout Fishing in the United States’)
• The Economics of Recreational and Commercial Striped Bass Fishing
• The Relative Economic Contributions of U.S. Recreational and Commercial Fisheries – 2006, by SA Southwick Associates for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership
  • Page iV: ‘In 2004, approximately 82 million marine recreational fishing trips were taken by 14 million anglers. These anglers spent over $16 billion, which in turn generated over $34 billion in total economic activity, supporting nearly 360,000 full and part time jobs, and billions in tax revenues and income (salaries, wages and business profits).’
  • Page V: ‘In 2004, commercial fishermen landed $1.7 billion in finfish (dock side value). After going through wholesalers, processors, distributors and retail points, the total resulting economic activity totaled nearly $9.9 billion and supported 126,477 jobs.’
  • Page Vi: ‘…the total national economic impact from commercial finfish fisheries is 28.54 percent of the impact created by marine recreational fisheries…Please note that the commercial fisheries reported above include significant fisheries such as hake, pollock and other offshore fisheries not targeted by recreational anglers.’

AUSTRALIA

“Recreational fishing is a serious business in Australia, generating hundreds of millions of dollars annually in equipment, travel and related spending.”

— National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey

Important sources include:

• National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey – Australian government’s final report (08/2003)
•  ‘The serious business of angling‘ – Article by Julian Cribb, 17 June 2007:

“By any measure, recreational fishing is a serious business in Australia today. The last survey (2005) showed Aussies spent $680 million a year on fishing tackle alone. With rapid growth, especially by big retailers and outdoors leisure stores, that figure is on track to crack the billion dollar mark sometime in 2008 or 09….but it’s hard to develop sound policies because we still know so little about it. Some much of the information is anecdotal or inferred from local surveys. That’s why we’ve teamed up with the Fisheries R&D Corporation, because we know we need to carry out some serious research into recreational angling…”

• Social survey of South Australian recreational fishers – 2012
• State-level surveys and data across
  • New South Wales
  • Victoria
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Western Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Northern Territory

CANADA

“National surveys of recreational fishing provide detailed information on participation, fishing effort and economic expenditure across Canada.”

— Survey of Recreational Fishing in Canada

Key studies include:

• • Surveys of Recreational Fishing in Canada
    •  1990
    • 1995
    • 2000
    • 2005
    • 2010
  • Survey of the Recreational Cod Fishery of Newfoundland and Labrador – 2007

BRITISH COLUMBIA

“Combined tidal and freshwater recreational angling generates more than $1.2 billion annually in British Columbia.”

— BC Wildlife Federation

Examples include:

• • • BC Wildlife Federation – 2002
      ‘The revenues from recreational angling in BC are significant drivers to our economy and positively influence our GDP. In 2002 some $550,000,000 was spent on tidal water angling and in 1995 $494,000,000 was spent on freshwater angling (which provided approximately $99,000,000 in government revenue).’
    • British Columbia’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector – 2007
      Sportfishing supported in 2005 about 7,700 jobs and generated $288 million in GDP with a revenue $865 million. Revenue from tidal and freshwater angling combined has been estimated to exceed $1.2 billion annually.
    • BC Freshwater Sport Fishing – Economic Impact Report – 2013
      – $957 million Total direct, indirect and induced impacts
      – $144 million Total provincial and federal tax revenues
      – $546 million Direct economic impacts
      – Employment of 5,000
      – 6% more anglers since 2005
    • Licence, conservation surcharge, stamp and classified water fees of $13.9 million
    • Over $27 million in angling packages
    • Over 3.8 million days fished – an average of 13 days a year per angler
    • 7.5 million fish caught (58% rainbow trout): catch rate of 1.96 fish per day
    • For every $1 invested in services by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, anglers spent an average of $24

NEW ZEALAND

“Recreational fishing participation in New Zealand is among the highest in the world, involving around one third of the population.”

— New Zealand Fisheries at a Glance

Key sources include:

• • • New Zealand Fisheries at a Glance (2009) – Recreational Fishing, estimated participation (% of the total NZ population): 33%
    • Annual reports
      • “Valuing the charter fishing industry (Part I: Establishing the nature and extent of the industry), Thomson, J. and H. Rennie – 2004
      • Final Report:, unpubl. Report commissioned by the Ministry of Fisheries, contract MOF2001/04D. P.172 +CD-ROM
        – Working paper 1: Review of literature and construction of a model’ unpubl. Report prepared for the Ministry of Fisheries and Fishery Assessment Working Groups. May 2004. MFish research project MOF2001/04. P. 80

Numerous international organisations and research programmes have examined recreational fisheries worldwide, including:

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

“There is a confusing array of definitions relating to recreational fishing and its constituent sectors.”

— European Commission study on Sport Fisheries

“The study adopted definitions developed by the European Anglers Alliance to clarify terminology related to recreational fishing.”

— EU Sport Fisheries Study

 

• FINAL REPORT – “EU contract FISH/2004/011 on “Sport Fisheries” (or Marine Recreational Fisheries) in the EU”; For The European Commission Directorate-General for Fisheries, Prepared by M. G. Pawson, D. Tingley, G, Padda1, and H. Glenn – 2007

• The report highlights the lack of consistent terminology in recreational fisheries, where terms such as fishing, sport fishing and angling are often used interchangeably. To ensure clarity, the authors adopted the definitions developed by the European Anglers Alliance (EAA, 2004) as the basis for the terminology used throughout the study.

• See also “The definition of marine recreational fishing in Europe“; Pawson, Glenn, Padda (2007)
• FINAL REPORT – “EU intervention in inland fisheries“, Ernst & Young for the European Commission Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (Framework contract N° FISH/2006/09 (Lot N°3) “Studies linked to the implementation of the European Fisheries Fund”)
• Hyder, K, Radford, Z, Prellezo, R, Weltersbach, MS, Lewin, WC, Zarauz, L, Ferter, K, Ruiz, J, Townhill, B, Mugerza, E, & Strehlow, HV, 2017, Research for PECH Committee – Marine recreational and semi-subsistence fishing – its value and its impact on fish stocks, European Parliament, Policy Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies, Brussels

SPORT FISHING: TUNA FISHING IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

• Sport Fishing: an informative and economic alternative for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean (SFITUM).
• EC Project 02/C132/11/41 Coordinateur, Ana Gordoa, CEAB-CSIC – Final Report December/2004
  Volume I
  Volume II
• Spain: “The Spanish fleet which represent closer the whole recreational fleet and not only those vessels targeting tuna gives that the annual expenses of the standard vessel is 13.336 €. The total expenses of the Mediterranean Spanish fleet would be around 534 millions of euros.” (boat value excluded).
  If boat value included: “The total annual expenses of the Spanish Mediterranean Recreational fleet would increase from 534 millions of euros to 845 millions of euros. The mean Spanish vessel size could be slightly smaller than 9m so total annual expenses should be around 800 millions of euros. This figure it is very relevant to be compared with the professional total production in the Spanish Mediterranean (380 millions € in 2003). The professional fish is more economic (obviously the market price is lowest that the cost of recreational fish), the professional activity probably produce more economic impact in the local communities (in activities as transport, market, logistics, processing, etc.), but the direct contribution to GNP of the Recreational Activities is most important in the Mediterranean that in the Professional Activity.”
•  Italy: “Italian questionnaires gave a figure of 10.518 € annual costs per tuna recreational vessel and the direct census over ports and bays show that 41% of recreational fleet do not use mooring ports being park in bays or beaches. Figure 4.2 shows the bays or vessel parking places in Italy. To estimate the annual expenses of tuna fleet we consider that only 49% of it has mooring costs then average annual costs of tuna vessel become 9.872 €. The annual expenses of the whole fleet would be close to 42 millions of euros and the cost of catch a Kg. of Tuna by an Italian vessel 21,5 euros. This figure become 22,9 € considering that every vessel has mooring costs.”

NORDIC STUDY

• The Economic value of recreational fisheries in the Nordic Countries

IUCN

• ‘Freshwater Fisheries in Central & Eastern Europe – the Challenge of Sustainability‘, overview report compiled for European Sustainable Use Specialist Group of IUCN / SSC Fisheries Working Group, IUCN Office for Central Europe by Dr. Robert Aps, Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, July 2004.

EIFAC/FAO

“Recreational fisheries represent an important economic and social activity across many regions of the world.”

— FAO / EIFAC

• Economic issues and opportunities facing Europe in the field of sport fisheries, Jean-Louis Gaudet Acting Secretary European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission (EIFAC)
• The recreational fishing in the Central and Western European Mediterranean frame, Franquesa, R., A. Gordoa, T. Mina, S. Nuss, Borrego (2004). Report of the 16th Annual Conference of the European Association of Fisheries Economists. Rome, 5-7 April. FAO Fisheries Report No. 739 FIPP/R739 (En) ISBN 92-5-105209-3.
• Methodologies for assessing socio-economic benefits of European inland recreational fisheries, EIFAC Occasional Paper No. 46 (2010)
• Review of the state of the world fishery resources: inland fisheries, Simon Funge-Smith, FAO (2018)

EAA

• Data from Actual Surveys – Social and Economic Value of Recreational Fishing – 2002 – High res. 7.52 Mb
• Data from Actual Surveys – Social and Economic Value of Recreational Fishing – 2002 – Low res. 3.27 Mb

OTHER

“Recreational sea fishing is widespread globally and represents a significant component of fisheries activity in many regions.”

— Hyder et al., Fish and Fisheries

• Hyder, K, Weltersbach, MS, Armstrong, M, et al. Recreational sea fishing in Europe in a global context—Participation rates, fishing effort, expenditure, and implications for monitoring and assessment. Fish Fish. 2018; 19: 225– 243. https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12251