NOAA Fisheries Marine Recreational Bait & Tackle Economic Survey

Speaking of the jobs that depend on recreational fishing, NOAA Fisheries this week unveiled the first national economic survey of independent retail stores that sell marine recreational bait, tackle and fishing-related equipment. Among the key findings in the NOAA Fisheries report:

There are 3,514 independent bait and tackle shops in coastal communities that together generated an estimated $854 million in total sales of marine recreational equipment in 2013;
Those sales supported economic impacts estimated at $2.3 billion in total sales output, nearly $796 million in income and over 16,000 full- and part-time jobs.

While we're still analyzing their numbers, this NOAA study supports what the recreational fishing community has been saying all along: recreational fishing is more than a wholesome activity for millions of Americans. Thanks to its enormous popularity, recreational fishing is an important economic contributor to American manufacturing, retail sales -- and in creating American jobs.

Let's hope Congress keeps that in mind as it takes up Rep. Graves' bill to correct the federal mismanagement of the Gulf red snapper fishery -- and as it resumes work on the Magnuson-Stevens Act reauthorization.