Economic Impact of Recreational Fish Production

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has produced a special issue of "Eddies" - a magazine that seeks to inform its readers of the work – past, present, and future – of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Division of Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation.

Of note in the Special Issue 2009 is a mention of the economic impact of recreational fish production, particularly in the southeast US:

"Recreational fish production fuels a powerful economic engine.
Recreational use of hatchery-stocked fish generates significant
economic effects. Federal hatcheries in Arkansas, Florida,
Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, and Louisiana annually stock a total 22.3 million fish
of 15 game species in 12 states. In 2005, this generated over 3.2
million angler-days of fishing, $239 million in total economic output,
and 3,100 jobs with incomes totaling $63 million, and $14.0 million
in state and federal taxes. This economic fuel was generated by
spending less than $5 million in budget allocations to produce and
stock these fish. This translates to an economic benefit of $48
for every $1 of taxpayer money spent on National Fish Hatchery
recreational fish production in the Southeast Region."

You may read this, and other issues of "Eddies" on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife website.