Explanation of Indicator
Florida has an abundance of both fresh water and saltwater water bodies for recreational or sport fishing. The availability of water and its virtually unlimited access from any point within the state allow almost anyone who wants to fish the opportunity to do so. Those who engage in fishing use a variety of methods. Outdoor recreation from fishing includes conventional methods such as rod and reel casting to highly specialized forms such as cast-netting, spearfishing, floundering, crabbing, and gatheri ng oysters and other shellfish.
The state requires fishing licenses for both salt and fresh water fishing; however, only saltwater licenses will be considered here. The price of saltwater fishing licenses varies by type. Following is a list of the types of fishing licenses currently o ffered:
Resident One Year Vessel 10’< Resident 10 Day Vessel 4’< Non-Resident One Year Pier Non-Resident Seven Day Snook Stamp Non-Resident Three Day Crawfish Stamp Vessel Recreational Tarpon Tag Vessel 11’> RV Stamp
Sport fishing has significant impacts on the state’s economy through the creation of other industries to support sport fishing. Some of the industries created include fish camps, individual boat rentals and related services, luxurious charter boats, and piers (some of which charge for admission). Additionally, local tackle shops and other businesses generate substantial revenue by selling fishing equipment.
The number of fishing licenses sold provides a good indication of the recreational value of fishing; if people value the sport they will purchase licenses and equipment and these purchases, in turn, will help the economy of local areas along the coast whi ch cater to fishers. The number of fishing licenses may also indicate how many visitors are drawn to Florida because of the opportunities for fishing. This information could be valuable to the state in its decision to invest in the coast.
This indicator also considers the revenue generated by saltwater fishing licenses. The sale of these licenses generates substantial revenue for the state. Each type of fishing license requires a different fee. Thus, the revenue generated from fishing li censes will vary from year to year based on the rate charged and the popularity of different fishing licenses. An increase in revenue from saltwater fishing licenses indicates that the sport is gaining popularity and that it may be beneficial to the stat e to make sure more piers are available for fishers. Revenue data also indicate to coastal businesses catering to fishers how much income they can expect from fishers who need supplies.
Data Characteristics
SOURCE
Information on recreational fishing licenses may be obtained from Virginia Vail at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3000, or at (904) 922-4340.
ACQUISITION
The data are available in hard copy. There is no cost associated with the acquisition of this information.
COLLECTION
The information is continually updated and tabulated annually by county.
Data Limitations
These data consider only the number of people who buy a saltwater fishing license; they do not measure how many people use their license or how often. Additionally, there are many people who fish without a license. While these data have some limitations
, this is the best information currently available for determining how much recreational saltwater fishing occurs along the coast.
Data Analysis
The following data reflect only the four most popular fishing licenses in the state. For the period between 1990 and 1993, the numbers of resident one year licenses show an overall increase of nearly 10%, although from year to year the figures either inc
reased or decreased an average of about 8%. Similarly, snook and crawfish licenses increased over 11% during the period of record, even though the numbers of licenses either decreased or increased an average of more than 12% from year to year. In contra
st to those two types of licenses is the non-resident one year license, which experienced a fairly steady overall decrease of 15.6% from 1990 to 1993, and the non-resident 3 to 7 day license, which reflects an overall increase of 42.7%. The steady increa
se in numbers of non-resident 3 to 7 day licenses is likely due to increased tourism, but the cause of the steady decline in non-resident one year licenses is unknown.
Year Resident One Non-Resident Non-Resident 3 Snook and Year One Year to 7 day Crawfish 1990 502,594 88,975 177,646 229,955 1991 538,651 79,819 232,529 260,200 1992 502,421 76,039 235,595 229,598 1993 551,348 75,090 253,433 256,044
The revenue collected by the state from fishing licenses increased only 0.17% overall between 1991 and 1994. Collected revenue decreased about 0.5% between 1991 and 1992, decreased 5.5% between 1992 and 1993, and then increased 6.5% between 1993 and 1994 . The reasons for these fluctuations are unknown.
Year Revenue 1991 $11,808,927 1992 $11,748,736 1993 $11,105,404 1994 $11,829,433
