Thank
an Angler!
DID YOU KNOW
• Recreational fishing – both fresh and saltwater combined – ranks higher than bowling or playing basketball, softball or soccer, according to data from the National Sporting Goods Association.
• More Americans fish than play golf (21 million) and tennis (13 million) combined.
• If fishing were a company, the amount spent by anglers to support fishing-related retail sales would rank number 51 on the Fortune 500 ™ list.
• Fishing generated more revenue ($48 billion) than Lockheed Martin ($47 billion), Intel ($44 billion), Chrysler ($42 billion) or Google ($38 billion).
• The economic activity generated by sportfishing is greater than the economies, measured in Gross State Product, of 17 states.
• At more than 46 million anglers in 2011, more than twice the number of people fished in 2011 than attended every NFL game combined.
THANK AMERICA’S ANGLERS if you enjoy clean, healthy lakes, rivers and oceans teaming with a dynamic variety of fish and shorebird species, since it’s their dollars that provide the bulk of the funding for our nation’s fisheries conservation and environmental success. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find any group of people in the country who contributes more: nearly $1.5 billion annually. And angler numbers are growing – 11 percent overall in the five years since the last national survey. In fact, accounting for regional variations, some angling demographics actually increased by a larger percentage, including Great Lakes anglers, whose numbers grew by 17 percent and saltwater anglers, whose numbers increased by 15 percent. This growing legion of anglers is the economic engine that helps keep fisheries conservation moving successfully forward through the purchase of fishing licenses, which go directly toward the operations of state fish and wildlife agencies, and through the federal excise tax on fishing tackle as part of the long-running Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. License sales in 2010 amounted to $657 million, while the excise taxes collected on the sale of fishing gear, boats and boat fuel added another $390 million in support of conservation efforts carried out in each state. It’s a model that virtually powers itself. In addition, anglers donate over $400 million more each year to various conservation and fishing organizations. Without fish and good habitat, there would be no anglers, and without anglers – men, women and children – there would be few fish and little quality habitat. The year 2012 marked the 75th anniversary of our nation’s system of conservation funding – a model that is envied throughout the world – that directs excise taxes on fishing and hunting gear toward state-based conservation. The Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund has resulted in robust fish and wildlife populations and quality habitat that is the legacy of the sportfishing industry and sportsmen and women alike.
6 • www.ASAfishing.org