The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and Big Rock Sports, LLC , today released an economic study that highlights the economic battering the southeast recreational fishing retail market would take should the current South Atlantic red snapper fishing ban in federal waters be expanded. The expansion would include bottom fishing in waters from 98 feet to 300 feet in an area covering 10,000 square miles stretching from North Carolina to Florida’s Atlantic coast. ASA and Big Rock Sports commissioned the survey of Southeast tackle dealers to collect and analyze information about the Southeast sportfishing retail market.
The survey data shows that roughly 1,300 stores selling bait and tackle will be directly affected by the proposed bottom fishing ban. These businesses will lose an estimated $78 million in sales in the first year of the ban alone. This equates to an average loss of $60,000 in sales per store. In addition, the survey found that 578 jobs will be affected. The survey responses provided a qualitative description of the bait and tackle industry and measured the impact of the closures on the revenues, profits and employment levels of the region’s business.?The study – An Economic Impact Study of the Effects of Closures in the South Atlantic Snapper-Grouper Fishery on the Bait and Tackle Retail Industry – was conducted by Georgetown Economic Services (GES), Washington, D.C.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in its December 2009 red snapper ruling that it did not have the economic impact information on tackle shops and other recreational fishing-dependent business. Big Rock Sports and ASA teamed up to gather the necessary economic impact data for consideration. NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and regional fishery management councils are obligated under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to consider economic impacts when developing fishery management decisions. NOAA’s South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) is meeting in Orlando, Fla., June 7 -11, with the expanded fishing ban on its Wednesday agenda. ASA’s comment letter on the proposed bottom fishing closure is available on
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