Courtesy of NAA:
NOAA Fisheries has released a Recreational Bait and Tackle Economic Survey. The survey focused on independent retail stores that sell bait and tackle to marine recreational anglers in coastal communities located in 23 U.S. states on the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific coasts, including Alaska and Hawaii. Over the course of the summer of 2014, selected stores received mail surveys asking about their business’ costs and revenues, employment, and structure.
Results from the Survey showed that 3,154 independent bait and tackle shops generated an estimated $854 million in original sales of saltwater bait, tackle, and other fishing-related equipment. Of that total, bait represented $153 million. Collectively, these sales supported total economic contributions of approximately $2.3 billion in total sales output, $796 million in income, and over 16,000 full and part-time jobs across the United States.
The 2013 USDA Census of Aquaculture reported 166 baitfish farms with total sales of $29 million. Most of the farms and sales were for freshwater species. The NOAA survey can be accessed at http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/economics/fisheries/recreational/Bait-and-Tackle/bt-survey-2014.
It should be noted that because the survey focused on independent retailers, and excluded national chains and web-based retailers, it captured only a subset of the entire bait and tackle industry’s contribution to the U.S. economy. NOAA Fisheries captures total bait and tackle purchases by saltwater anglers through its national expenditure survey of saltwater anglers. Information about the national angler survey can be found here: https://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/economics/fisheries/recreational/angler-expenditures-economic-impacts/index.
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