Recreational fishing worth almost $2 billion annually to NC’s economy

Survey shows state ranks ninth in overall fishing expenditures

Recreational fishing pumps almost $2 billion into North Carolina’s economy on an annual basis, according to reports issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Sportfishing Association.

The USFWS, in its 2006 Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife Recreation, reported that 1.3 million fishermen wet a line in Tarheel State waters annually, spend more than $1.1 billion themselves, and have a total statewide economic impact of more than $1.9 billion.

Expenditures by fishermen 16 years or older average $717 per year, while saltwater fishermen spend $1,077. Most of the money was spent on trip-related expenditures, including food, lodging, transportation and related expenses. Equipment – rods, reels, tackle – was the second largest category of expenditures, while supplementary items such as magazine, licenses and permits accounted for the rest of the money.

North Carolina ranks nine in the nation in average angler expenditures, according to the American Sportfishing Association’s “Sportfishing in America” survey. The ASA said that fishermen support 20,712 jobs and contribute almost $600 million toward salaries, wages and business earnings, and that fishing generates more than $138 million in federal and $122 million in state and local tax revenues.