The economic contribution of a recreational fishery in a remote rural economy

This paper evaluates the scale of local economic benefits arising from recreational angling tourism in a rural community. The analysis is carried out using survey data of recreational anglers in the remote, coastal village of Waterville in Co. Kerry, south-west Ireland. This region is a popular tourist angling destination as it offers diverse angling opportunities including freshwater angling for species such as salmon and sea-trout as well as sea angling for species like bass and pollack. The analysis estimates the impact of anglers’ expenditure on incomes in the Waterville area. The estimated contribution of angling tourism to the local economy in the Waterville area was between € 41–58 per trip or € 8–11 per angler day. Angler trips, on average, contributed between 0.1–0.15% of mean household income to the local economy during 2015. Regression analysis of angler expenditures indicated that while slight, anglers exhibited higher expenditures in the local area if they were long time repeat visitors and opted for hotel/B&B type accommodation arrangements rather than a privately owned holiday home or camping/self-catering type accommodation arrangement. The expenditure of tourists solely engaged in freshwater game angling was higher than other anglers including those that engage in other local cultural and sporting activities.