Green Bay fishery hauls it in
It has estimated $264 million annual economic impact
How valuable is the Green Bay fishery?
If you asked many anglers, they'd say it's priceless, and for good reasons, namely walleye, smallmouth bass, muskellunge, yellow perch, northern pike, brown trout and lake whitefish. But is it Green Bay Packers football big? A direct pigskin to fish comparison isn't available.
But a just-released study makes it clear: When viewed through an economic lens, the bay's sport fishery is big league.
According to work by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, recreational sport fishing in Green Bay contributes $264 million annually to the regional economy.
This fishing-related economic activity in turn generates $14.8 million annually in state and local tax revenue, as well as provides 2,711 full-time equivalent jobs.
The study included freshwater angling that occurred in the bay and the connected waters of Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Marinette, and Oconto counties.
The report was issued earlier this week by Matthew Winden, associate professor of economics at UW-Whitewater, who led the study.
He was assisted by John Stoll, the Austin E. Cofrin Professor of Management at UW-Green Bay, as well as several UW-Whitewater students.
The work was commissioned by Walleyes For Tomorrow, the Fond du Lac-based conservation
organization, which paid $10,000 for the study.
The professors donated their time on the project, Winden said. The WFT money paid for printing of surveys, postage and graduate student assistance.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was also a partner in the work; the agency didn't contribute financially, but utilized its creel clerks to contact anglers and distribute the survey during their time in the field.
The university researchers used methodology similar to a study they conducted in 2006 on Lake Winnebago. That work, led by Stoll, estimated fishing had an annual economic impact of $234 million and supported 4,500 jobs in the Winnebago region.
The Green Bay study included responses collected in 2017 and 2018. A total of 374 anglers completed the questionnaire, which took about 15 minutes to fill out.
The work found that on a “typical” fishing trip to Green Bay, anglers (across all types, local, in-state and out-of- state) spend on average about $580 in the Green Bay region and $129 in the rest of Wisconsin; this results, on average, in about $713 spent per trip in the state.
The expenditures are made across a range of categories, including transportation, boat, licenses and other gear, as well as lodging and meals, Winden said.
According to the data, 86% of the respondents have fished for 25 or more years on the bay and 97% have fished for 15 or more years.
Ages of anglers who completed the survey ranged from 16 to 81.
About 8% of the angling trips were for ice fishing, and 3% were to compete in tournaments.
Anglers rated, in order, the top three reasons for fishing in Green Bay as "fun of catching fish," to "be outdoors" and "relaxation."
When asked whether the DNR "does a good job managing the Green Bay Region fishery”, 52% supported or strongly supported the agency's work, while only 17% were opposed or strongly opposed.
That's a good thing, because the high quality Green Bay fishery is in large part due to the DNR's sciencebased fisheries management.
Walleye stocks were decimated in the bay through the early 1970s from pollution, overfishing and habitat loss.
The DNR helped restore walleyes through a stocking program from 1973 to 1984 which, combined with habitat improvement projects and protective regulations, helped establish a naturally-reproducing walleye population.
The Green Bay walleye fishery is now one of the best in the Midwest. Many Wisconsin anglers now prefer to fish the bay rather than drive to Lake Erie.
The bay is also famous for its smallmouth fishery, which has attracted national bass tourneys, and its Great Lakes strain spotted muskies, which are stocked by the DNR.
According to 2018 DNR creel data, walleyes dominated the open water catch and harvest in Green Bay. Last year open water anglers caught 210,252 walleyes and kept 106,254, outpacing yellow perch (138,705 and 73,403, respectively) and smallmouth bass (111,961 and 2,425).
During winter, lake whitefish led the catch and harvest, as ice anglers caught 174,220 whitefish and kept 151,827, followed by yellow perch (79,248 and 35,966) and walleye (23,010 and 4,505).
So is fishing in the bay as big a player for the local economy as the Packers? That's tough to say. A 2009 study by AECOM found the football club contributed $141 million annually to the economy, as well as about $81 million in wages for 760 employees.
Brenda Krainik, director of marketing and communication for the Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, said a more recent study found each home Packers game contributes $14 million to the local economy. If you figure 8 regular season and 2 preseason games, that would be $140 million, without even considering all other Packers business activities.
So no direct comparison is available. But it's safe to say fishing in the bay is a big fish when it comes to the state and local economy.
Mike Arrowood, chairman of Walleyes For Tomorrow, said the study was valuable because it helps establish economic data on the fishery.
"We wanted it done for exactly that reason, because it hadn't been done," Arrowood said. "One of the ways we work to protect our fisheries is by getting the best possible data, and that includes economic data."
Mike Donofrio, DNR fisheries team supervisor based in Peshtigo, coordinated distribution of the surveys to anglers via the agency's creel clerks.
He said such studies are supported by objectives in the DNR's Lake Michigan Fisheries Management Plan.
"As an agency, we invest a lot of time and money in developing, managing and monitoring the Green Bay fishery, not only from a sport standpoint but also from a commercial standpoint," Donofrio said.
When you think of Green Bay, it's fine to think of Aaron Rogers and Lambeau Field. But don't forget about the nearby waters, too, which, thanks to the robust fishery, have earned a starting spot in the region's economic lineup.