Sport angling reels in the money for B.C.
British Columbia’s recreational fishery is worth as much to the provincial economy as commercial fishing, aquaculture and fish processing combined, according to a new report from BC Stats.
The report, the first major economic review of the sector since 2007, estimates overall B.C. fisheries and aquaculture sector revenue at $2.2 billion for 2011 including a $936-million contribution from recreational angling.
That boils down to a $325-million contribution to gross domestic product from the recreational sub-sector — not including spending on angling gear, boats and other vehicles — compared with $340 million in combined GDP from the commercial, aquaculture and fish-processing sub-sectors including commercial boats and gear.
Within the recreational fishery, saltwater activity accounts for just over half of GDP with the remainder going to angling in lakes and streams.
Employment across the entire sector reached 13,900, 8,400 of whom worked in recreational fishing.
Gerry Kristianson, communications director for the Sport Fishing Institute of British Columbia, noted that most of the federal fisheries budget is dedicated to the commercial fishery in contrast with its relative value to Canada as a whole.
“If you look at the budget of the department, they spend something in the order of 90 per cent of the budget on commercial fisheries and a tiny proportion on recreational fisheries.”