Taking a further look at the expenditures of U.S. anglers in 2011, a total of $4.5 billion in angler expenditures were related specifically to fishing trips with $2 billion of this for private boat-based fishing trips. Shore-based fishing trips generated $1.5 billion and for-hire-based fishing trips brought in $1 billion. The angler expenditures on fishing-related equipment for 2011 totaled over $22 billion with most related to boat expenses ($11 billion). Other major expenditures incurred by anglers included vehicle expenses ($4.1 billion), fishing tackle ($3.8 billion) and second home expenses ($2.1 billion).
This is great news for the recreational fishing industry because of the rise seen between 2010 and 2011, especially in the Southeast portion of the United States (South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Regions) where recreational fishing is economically important and a large driver of tourism. In 2011, around 70% of all recreational fishing jobs in the US were occupied by fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic Regions. Recreational Fishing in these two regions generated $15.9 billion in fishing trip and durable equipment expenditures with $6.1 billion and $9.8 billion in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico regions respectively.
