The best current official benchmark is for U.S. marine recreational fishing: NOAA Fisheries estimates it generated $145.4 billion in sales impacts and supported 694,041 full- and part-time jobs in 2023. These are modeled economic-impact measures, not a global market-revenue total or anglers’ direct spending.
What does the $145.4 billion figure measure?
NOAA Fisheries’ current Fisheries Economics of the United States report estimates the U.S. economic impacts of recreational marine fishing using 2023 data. Sales impacts describe economic activity generated across affected sectors and supply chains. They are not the same as money anglers paid directly, nor should they be treated as a standalone measure of industry revenue.
NOAA’s 2023 estimates also include $47.1 billion in worker income impacts and $78.4 billion in value-added impacts. These are distinct measures of economic contribution; they should not be added to sales impacts as if they were separate revenue streams. The employment figure counts jobs supported by the modeled impacts, not anglers or fishing businesses.
How the main U.S. figures compare
| Measure | Figure | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| Sales impacts | $145.4 billion | U.S. recreational marine fishing economic impacts, 2023 |
| Jobs supported | 694,041 | Full- and part-time jobs supported by U.S. recreational marine fishing impacts, 2023 |
| Worker income impacts | $47.1 billion | Income impacts associated with U.S. recreational marine fishing, 2023 |
| Value-added impacts | $78.4 billion | Value-added contribution associated with U.S. recreational marine fishing, 2023 |
| Angler expenditures | $72.3 billion | U.S. recreational saltwater trip and durable-goods expenditures, 2022 |
| Trips | More than 204 million | U.S. saltwater recreational fishing trips, 2023 |
| Fish caught | Estimated 1.1 billion | Fish caught by U.S. saltwater recreational anglers, 2023 |
NOAA’s recreational fishing statistics report the expenditure figure for 2022 and the trip and catch figures for 2023. The $72.3 billion in expenditures and $145.4 billion in sales impacts cover different years and use different measures, so they are not a direct year-over-year comparison.
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What counts as recreational fishing?
NOAA defines recreational fishing as fishing for leisure rather than to sell fish or for subsistence. Its current economic estimates cover U.S. marine fisheries. They are therefore a strong benchmark for saltwater recreational fishing, but they are not a comprehensive accounting of every inland fishery in the country.
Fishing equipment is part of the economic activity NOAA measures: rods, reels, boats, special clothing and other durable goods are the largest contributor to the recreational-fishing impacts it reports. The broader ecosystem also includes services such as charter boat operations.
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Why the $394 billion outdoor-recreation figure is not fishing revenue
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported $394 billion in combined participant spending across fishing, hunting, wildlife watching, recreational boating and target shooting in its 2022 National Survey, released in 2023. That is a combined total for several activities, not fishing alone. The same survey reported that 40 million U.S. residents went fishing in 2022.
The Service says the 2022 survey methodology changed, so its results should not be directly compared with earlier survey editions. Its survey release gives the spending and participation figures; the National Survey program page describes the survey and its comparability context.
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Is there a reliable global industry total?
No comparable global recreational-fishing estimate is established by these official figures. NOAA’s number is U.S.-only and marine-focused, while the Fish and Wildlife Service’s broader total combines several U.S. outdoor activities. Neither can be extrapolated into a worldwide total. A defensible global estimate would need countries to use comparable definitions, years and economic-impact methods.
Quick Recap
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