Some Facts About Hunting and Fishing

Southwick Associates, Inc. has just completed a project for the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies' Animal Use Issues Committee estimating the types of losses society might incur if hunting and trapping were lost as wildlife management tools. Based on a survey of state wildlife agencies and a detailed review of existing literature, the report provides examples describing the many possible effects such a loss could generate, including:
* An additional 50,000 injuries per year from wildlife-auto collisions
* $3.8 billion in additional auto repair costs
* $1.45 billion in new health care and disease control costs just for rabies alone
* $972 million in damages to homes annually

Hunters and trappers today provide their wildlife control services mostly free to the taxpayer. In the absence of public hunting or trapping, government would likely be called upon to step in and control wildlife to some degree. Based on a survey of state wildlife agencies and available literature, the potential cost of government-run substitutes for hunting and trapping were estimated:
* $934.2 million to $9.3 billion of taxpayer's money annually to control whitetail deer,
* $132 million to $265 million of taxpayer's money annually to control furbearers, and
* $16 million to $32 million of taxpayer's money annually just to control beaver.

Some segments of society call for the elimination of hunting and trapping. But the loss of hunting and trapping would affect the public's tolerance of wildlife. Historically, when wildlife populations exceed human tolerance limits, people condemn wildlife as pests. Instead of remaining a public treasure, wildlife can become a public target. Already, there are some signs that some wildlife populations are coming closer to the limit of public tolerance. As part of this project, wildlife managers were asked their opinion about the public's level of tolerance for overpopulated wildlife. The results are presented below, and indicate public tolerance might be lessening, but has not necessarily reached the public's tolerance limits. To ensure the public's limits are not reached, hunting and trapping must remain important wildlife management tools.

Percentage of states reporting their public is becoming more tolerant or less tolerant of wildlife overpopulation issues
U.S.
SE
NE
MW
W
Less Tolerant
75.7%
84.6%
88.9%
70.0%
53.8%
Stable
18.9%
7.7%
11.1%
30.0%
30.8%
More Tolerant
5.4%
7.7%
0.0%
0.0%
15.4%
The final report is available free at http://www.southwickassociates.com/.
Fuel Prices and their Impacts on Fishing Participation
Much fuss was made in late 2004 about rising fuel prices and the potential effects on the economy. But, what are the effects on fishing? As part of a current study helping state fishery agencies better understand the factors driving license sales, we took a look at this question. While the study is still underway, the initial results are interesting. A 50 cents per gallon increase in gasoline prices results in:
New Jersey: 17,700 less 1-year resident licenses sold annually
Florida: 92,100 less annual resident marine fishing licenses sold annually
Indiana: a 50 cents/gallon increase in gas prices results in 23,951 more annual resident fishing licenses sold annually
California: 26,700 less 1-day marine fishing licenses sold annually

Obviously, the effects of rising fuel prices have varying impacts on states. We can speculate about the reasons. One leading thought has anglers saving money by fishing closer to home. Therefore, states popular with non-resident anglers suffer decreased license sales while states that typically export anglers see more of them fishing near home. We have no reason to believe rising fuel prices reduce overall fishing activity, but rising fuel prices may impact where some anglers choose to fish. Information for most states on this topic will be available by mid-2005.
Detailed Hunter Demographics, Participation, Expenditures - by avidity, region, and targeted species - Now Available from the NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is releasing "Today's Hunter," a detailed looked at hunter demographics, participation rates and expenditures. This resource, produce on behalf of the NSSF by Southwick Associates, Inc., uses data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's five-year National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. "Today's Hunter" provides detailed regional and national profiles of hunters not previously released in any other U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey reports. Readers can see the differences between avid and non-avid hunters, learn how hunters and their expenditures differ across regions, and compare deer hunter expenditures to hunters targeting other species. Overall, 435 pages of detailed graphs and charts will help private companies and natural resource agencies learn more about hunters and the hunting market. Copies will soon be available for sale from the NSSF. Please contact Frank Briganti, NSSF's Research Manager, at [email protected] for more information. A sister document, "Today's Angler," is available from the American Sportfishing Association (703-519-9691).