How big is fishing? Big!

This past weekend the school had its first open house for prospective students. At the event, the fishing club was represented (thanks Viggs!). Several times, faculty members commented on the amount of "traffic" the fishing club's table was receiving. I would simply respond to the comment by saying, "fishing is big business around here." Exactly how big, I wasn't quite sure, so I did some digging. Here is what I found...

In 2006 the American Sportfishing Association published a study regarding the economic impact of freshwater and saltwater sportfishing in the United States. According to the study, there was an economic output of over $1.2 billion generated from recreational fishing in Massachusetts that year. The state ranked 7th in the nation for saltwater fishing retail sales which exceeded $492 million. State and local governments received $86 million in tax revenue from sportfishing. In 2006, the study estimated the average annual expenditure per saltwater angler (includes travel and equipment) in the state was $1,659.74. Compared to saltwater anglers in other states, we spend more annually on saltwater fishing than all but two states (South Carolina and California, $2,094 and $1,695, respectively).

Fishing is indeed big business in Massachusetts!