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> Back then, artificial reefs were designed to boost recreational fishing, which in 2011 generated a whopping $15 billion in state and federal taxes. Maybe I'm

> Back then, artificial reefs were designed to boost recreational fishing, which in 2011 generated a whopping $15 billion in state and federal taxes. Maybe I'm out of the loop, but in Europe I sometimes see people recreational fishing on the piers at the beach for example and I can't imagine how this activity could generate 15 billion in taxes. If the 3 mentioned states together have 20.4 million people, then every inhabitant on average is paying $700 in taxes for recreational fishing. What's going on there, how many people have this hobby and how much are they paying for it?

zamadatix 5y ago
The 15 Billion is a clickable link to the full breakdown. They give retail sales of recreational fishing gear as nearly 50 billion per year which all has sales tax as well as the fishing licenses themselves. They also make some assumptions about taxes from related jobs. They also have a "ripple effect" number which gets really deep into the "make it look good for what we want to say" territory and are an organization for fishing/conservation so take it all with a grain of salt. I don't quite buy the full $15 billion/year amount but quite a few billion per year seems immediately reasonable.
- posterboy 5y ago
  Fishing gear, + boats, travel, accomodations, sporting events, etc.
nkurz 5y ago
It's certainly possible that the number is simply wrong, but it seems to be sourced from this publication: https://asafishing.org/uploads/2011_ASASportfishing_in_America_Report_January_2013.pdf https://asafishing.org/uploads/2011_ASASportfishing_in_Ameri... (adding State and Federal totals at the bottom of Page 8). $15 Billion of taxes on $50 Billion of total expenditures does seem high, but not totally implausible. The right doubt might be whether there are really $50 Billion of annual expenditures on Recreational Fishing in the US. I suspect they are double counting a lot of things: if one goes fishing once on a vacation, they might be counting the entire travel cost of the vacation as a fishing expenditure. Edit: I said "seemed to be" because I was proud to have found that page on my own. But as another poster pointed out, that page is directly linked from the article so there is no doubt it is the source.
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chucksta 5y ago
Deep sea fishing is a very big and active sport. Maintaining and fueling deep sea recreational vessels required is also pretty expensive. Could add up quick, especially if you consider boat sales. There is also licenses and tags for the boat. I've been on one and the gas costs alone are hundreds of dollars a day for one boat. Apparently the rule of thumb is %10 of the boats value for the cost per year on maintenance, https://www.unitedyacht.com/Yacht-News/how-much-does-it-cost-to-own-a-yacht https://www.unitedyacht.com/Yacht-News/how-much-does-it-cost....
ryan_lane 5y ago
You should see how much a chartered trip costs. A large percentage of recreational fishing is chartered trips.
zamadatix 5y ago
Forgot to cover your last part, the 15 billion is for all states and federal government not just taxes in those 3 states. It's more like $45 per person or ~$100 per taxpayer per year. The distribution will be bimodal with those paying income tax will be paying significantly more than median and those just partaking will normally be paying significantly less than median. Of course most aren't involved at all.

zamadatix 5y ago

The 15 Billion is a clickable link to the full breakdown. They give retail sales of recreational fishing gear as nearly 50 billion per year which all has sales tax as well as the fishing licenses themselves. They also make some assumptions about taxes from related jobs. They also have a "ripple effect" number which gets really deep into the "make it look good for what we want to say" territory and are an organization for fishing/conservation so take it all with a grain of salt. I don't quite buy the full $15 billion/year amount but quite a few billion per year seems immediately reasonable.

posterboy 5y ago
Fishing gear, + boats, travel, accomodations, sporting events, etc.

nkurz 5y ago

It's certainly possible that the number is simply wrong, but it seems to be sourced from this publication: https://asafishing.org/uploads/2011_ASASportfishing_in_America_Report_January_2013.pdf https://asafishing.org/uploads/2011_ASASportfishing_in_Ameri... (adding State and Federal totals at the bottom of Page 8). $15 Billion of taxes on $50 Billion of total expenditures does seem high, but not totally implausible. The right doubt might be whether there are really $50 Billion of annual expenditures on Recreational Fishing in the US. I suspect they are double counting a lot of things: if one goes fishing once on a vacation, they might be counting the entire travel cost of the vacation as a fishing expenditure. Edit: I said "seemed to be" because I was proud to have found that page on my own. But as another poster pointed out, that page is directly linked from the article so there is no doubt it is the source.

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chucksta 5y ago

Deep sea fishing is a very big and active sport. Maintaining and fueling deep sea recreational vessels required is also pretty expensive. Could add up quick, especially if you consider boat sales. There is also licenses and tags for the boat. I've been on one and the gas costs alone are hundreds of dollars a day for one boat. Apparently the rule of thumb is %10 of the boats value for the cost per year on maintenance, https://www.unitedyacht.com/Yacht-News/how-much-does-it-cost-to-own-a-yacht https://www.unitedyacht.com/Yacht-News/how-much-does-it-cost....

ryan_lane 5y ago

You should see how much a chartered trip costs. A large percentage of recreational fishing is chartered trips.

zamadatix 5y ago

Forgot to cover your last part, the 15 billion is for all states and federal government not just taxes in those 3 states. It's more like $45 per person or ~$100 per taxpayer per year. The distribution will be bimodal with those paying income tax will be paying significantly more than median and those just partaking will normally be paying significantly less than median. Of course most aren't involved at all.