Fishin' doesn't reel in a fortune for state

Anglers are ubiquitous along the coast — casting lines into the foaming beach surf, packing head boats to jig for snapper, powering offshore to troll the deep for marlin.

They're championed as an invaluable economic boon to the coast.

But they're not quite the boon a lot of people think.

The people who saltwater fish spent $595 million in South Carolina in 2006. Not chump change, but not quite the treasure trove the sport has been held up to be.

The spending here was less than a quarter of what was spent in North Carolina, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration survey. It was less than 10 percent of what was spent along the Atlantic coast in Florida.

That's despite a rapid increase in the number of anglers in South Carolina to nearly a million — almost twice as many as in 1997. The numbers are a little disconcerting to marine industry and program proponents who have argued for the sport's contribution while fighting conservation catch restrictions or trying to keep hold of disappearing budget dollars for stocking programs.

"That seems odd to me," said Scott Whitaker, director of the Coastal Conservation Association of South Carolina, a lobbying group for recreational anglers. The association is among those pushing to increase catch limits for some species.

Not only did the number of anglers increase, but the number of trips from 1997 to 2006 increased 66 percent to 2.7 million, the largest increase in the region, Whitaker said, while the percentage of out-of-state anglers remained twice that of in-state. The growth alone emphasizes the sport's importance to the state economy and he plans to take those numbers with him when he advocates for programs with state legislators.

Yet the relative dollar value disappointed. "I would have expected it to be a little higher," he said.

Total visitor spending along the S.C. coast is $6.1 billion per year, according to S.C. Parks, Recreation and Tourism. Total tourism spending in the state is some $14 billion.

The South Carolina numbers didn't surprise NOAA economist Scott Steinback, who authored the study. The state ranked 15th out of 23 coastal states that include long coastlines such as California and Texas. The state's total is short of North Carolina's $2 billion but ahead of Georgia's $179 million.

"I was shocked at how much came out of Florida," Steinback said. More than half the national total came from the Sunshine State.

The real news, he said, is still to come. The 2006 numbers reflect the height of the country's economic boon before it all came crumbling down with the collapse of the housing investment markets in 2008. "It's not the same now," Steinback said. NOAA is collecting new figures to adjust the totals.

Reach Bo Petersen at 937-5744 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.