Saltwater anglers nationwide were a $103 billion industry in 2011. The break down was more than 11 million saltwater anglers took over 70 million fishing trips generating $56 billion in sales impacts, $29 billion in value-added impacts, $18 billion in income impacts according to NOAA.

That sure beats the multibillion-dollar welfare state over the years of US commercial fishing fleets. A 2009 study explains state and federal subsidies and government support to the U. S. fishing industry is upwards to $1.83 billion per year of which the salmon piece of the pie equates to $200.6 million of which approx.44% is fuel subsidies.

So, they chase salmon all over the ocean instead of waiting for the salmon to return back to their individual terminal areas, attributing to additional cost and environmental footprint. The salmon caught in the ocean are at a fraction of their terminal-area-size and weight while fishing over ESA listed stocks.