Get Rid of the Nets
BY CAPT. TONY DENSLOW
MEGA BITES CHARTERS

Most Lake Erie sport fishermen in Ohio support the elimination of commercial fishing. I’ve been writing for a year about why anglers want the nets gone. Their reasons vary. Some believe the lake is too fragile anymore to support netting. They want Lake Erie to be strictly for sport fishing. Others are furious at the cheating that goes on in the commercial industry and the recent convictions for taking more fish than allowed.

I’ve always been against it for this reason: IT DOES NOT MAKE ECONOMIC SENSE. My argument was that a sport fishing-only lake would boost the state’s economy. More jobs, more boat sales, more fishermen, packed restaurants and motels, more tax money for state and local coffers. The list of benefits seem endless when you think about it.

Now, I offer further proof to support my stance. According to a new study by the Great Lakes Commission and the Recreational Marine Research Center of Michigan State University, the recreational boating industry generates an estimated $3.5 billion for Ohio’s economy and supports more than 26,000 jobs.

On the other hand, commercial fishing, with its handful of employees, offers next to nothing. It’s hardly a blip on the economic radar. They take, yet put nothing back. Could these boating impact figures be even stronger with a sport fishing –only lake? I think so. With netting out of the picture, anglers and recreational boaters will look at Lake Erie in a more positive light. It will show the public that Lake Erie’s resources are no longer for sale and that state officials care about the lake’s future. Translation: more people will come to the lakeshore.

The new study shows a significant increase in recreational boating’s impact, as compared to similar data compiled in 1999 by The Ohio State University. That year, recreational boating’s impact was set at $1.4 billion in Ohio, with support for 19,500 jobs.
Titled as “Great Lakes Recreational Boating’s Economic Punch,” the study uses 2003 watercraft registration data compiled by the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as economic data from individual states. Ohio had a near record 418,300 registered watercraft in 2003.
“We know recreational boating is a viable and growing industry in the region, which explains why Ohio and five other Great Lakes states are among the top ten states nationally in number of registered watercraft,” said Sean D. Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The study details the primary and secondary economic impacts generated by boaters and the boating industry. Primary impacts in Ohio included $1.96 billion in direct sales of boats, equipment, repairs, insurance and trip-related expenses such as gasoline, lodging, restaurants and marina fees. Additionally, researchers added $656 million in personal income from salaries related to the boating industry and $939 million in value-added expenditures such as restaurant suppliers, repair workers and service station employees.

Overall, the recreational boating industry in the eight-state Great Lakes region directly supported 107,000 jobs and generated a regional primary economic impact estimated at nearly $16 billion. Adding in secondary spending effects, the study concluded the recreational boating industry actually produced a total economic impact estimated at $34.6 billion and supported 244,000 jobs throughout the Great Lakes region. I rest my case!