I know this info has been posted here but I could not find it searching the archives. How much money salmon fishing, both commercial and recreation, generates in Washington State. This would include gear, etc....
A person on another website was grousing about how much money is 'wasted' in salmon habitat rehab, fixing culverts etc. for the benefit of just a few people.
Thanks for your time.....

One report I heard from the legislature is about $2 billion was spent in Washington on recreational fishing, hunting and wildlife viewing. Those numbers jive with what WDFW published in 2003 when they said it was $2.18 billion annually. They also stated that those activities supported 48,000 jobs.

It doesn't look like it benefits only a few people to me when you see the gobs and gobs of money put back into the economy.

Merch

I heard last years Sockeye season generated over 8 million....

There was an excerpt on this or another BB recently that included the summary of US Fish & Wildlife survey they do every few years. I'm sorry I don't have it at hand or remember the numbers, but it's a ton of money for sure. Hunters, fishermen, and even birders are crazy about their pastimes and spend a small fortune on it every year. And here I thought it was just a few of us odd balls.

I read one time there were 425,000 fishing licenses issued in this state, but that was a few years back. You can imagine from there how much is spent. The license itself, gas, food, lodging, tackle, etc, etc... It really adds up!

Thanks for the info. It's always a surprise to indoor folks how much is spent on outdoor recreation here in Washington, especially when the cost of purchase, maintenance and license fees for the various vehicles, boats, trailers used are added in.

there was a pie chart in the olympian last week, i believe the fishing spending was somewhere around 800 million a year in this state.

Its not only the money that fishing generates. The fixing of the culverts protects the resourse for the "Future" what that means is different to each of us.

But to me it means that my children wild be able to eat salmon form a sustainable fishery.

Fishing doesn't generate ANY money for me.

i know i have a budget of 800 bucks a month for fishing...this does include 200 bucks for my boat payment...i go over that every month except December...and that is only cause i work so much in Dec i dont have enough time to think fishing...just dream fishing...i dont want to add that up, nor do i want my family to know...hahaha...but i know im not the only one out there spending that kind of money...a freind of mine spends over 10 grand just in hotel for five weeks in seiku...i dont want to know how much they spend a year...add just a few of those people up...my average weekend is at least 200 bucks...c

Some people do spend crazy money on fishing. A friend of mine had a $14,000 fuel bill for a couple of months fishing this summer. He figured it cost $500 a day to run his boat. Yikes! But someone has to keep the economy spinning, right?

Merch

not only that.... a 500 buck a day fuel habit should pay for at least one boat launch in the sixty some odd miles of the hood canal...on our side we have one by the hood canal bridge and one in belfair...what a complete upset...im sure with a bill of 500 bucks a day he does not bring his boat out of the water much, meaning that the tax on the fuel is supposed to pay for boat launches...this state is far behind on launches...c

I thought you could get the fuel tax back if you filled up at a station since the fuel tax was for roads and your boat goes on the water. We used to do send in some refund thing in the late 80's I think. Is that still the case?

Merch

How do they know if you put the gas in your boat or in your car?

I mean what is to stop someone from being dishonest and putting gas in a car and then claiming it as boat gas?

For the record I am not approving the above suggestion just wondering how they prevent it from happening.

2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation ... http://library.fws.gov/nat_survey2006_final.pdf

745,000 recreational anglers spent $867M.

I can't seem to find a straight answer on the commercial numbers.

-Allen

it has got to be soooo much more than that...i think about all the things i order from out of state companys just to save on tax...or to find what im looking for...not to mention...this weekend we went for razor clams for my first time...not including the licences but gas for my car...hotel for two nights...food, which im sure they cant be counting...food alone was 120 bucks for the four of us...two in our car, two in a truck...plus we went shopping in town for some sweatshirts...ice cream...drinks...i know they cant include most of this stuff...but i would not have drank as much if i was at home...hahahaha....maybe true....but it adds up and very quick...and i could not count the cars i saw and the people i saw on the beach...it was amazing...just think of the licenses they sold...and from what i hear...a lot of the people that were in the area i was were from Oregon...how much money does that gererate for the state...it is not cheap for even a one day license for out of staters...

but they do need to do something about the lack of boat launches in this state...the launch at Salisbury was blocked off to be fixed in March...said it would be fixed in 60 to 90 days...they have not even looked at it as far as it seams...cant even keep up on boat launches that are already there...c

Imagine that.

Same problem I have had.