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Technical Report: The Economic Impact of Game and Coarse Fishing in Scotland

Section 6 Review And Conclusions

6.0 Introduction

The results from this study can be presented at various levels of aggregation. Appendix 10 presents economic impact results at a highly disaggregated level. Section 5 summarises these results, but still at relatively disaggregated level.

At this stage it is appropriate to review and present the principal results with less discussion of data issues and research method. Moreover, results should be presented at level of aggregation that focuses on the region and species combinations specified in the project remit.

In this Section, for each region/fishery combination we present tables on angler days, angler expenditure per day, total angler expenditure, displacement percentages, output effects, income effects, multipliers, employment effects. Finally we present the results for Scotland as a whole.

6.1 Angler Days

From the fisheries database, the distribution of angler days across regions and fishery types in Scotland is given in Table 6.1.1. It is estimated that there is a total of 1.4m annual days annually in Scotland. The three most important regions are Highlands, the North East and Central Scotland. Surprisingly, the region receiving the greatest angler effort is Central Scotland, in part due to the amount of rainbow trout angling in this region. If rainbow trout days are removed from the table, the central region is still the third most important angling region (behind the Highlands and the North East). The Highlands and the North East have over 70% of the total salmon and sea trout angler days (381,000 angler days). If salmon and sea trout angler days are removed, the North East and the Highlands are, respectively, the second and third most important fishing regions.

Table 6.1.1 Angler Days Summary Table

Across Scotland, in terms of angler effort, salmon and sea trout angling is the most important type of angling and is the largest fishery in Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders, Highland and the North East.

There are five cells in the above table with very low or zero angler days. It is known that angling for these species does occur in these regions because, with the exception of coarse angling in Orkney and Shetland, returns were obtained from anglers for these species in these regions ( see Table 2.2.6.2). However the number of returns was very small and the local fishing organisations were unable to estimate separate angler days for these species. On the advice of these organisations, we have recorded less than 100 days (<100) and any known minimal activity has been subsumed into the brown trout totals.

The relatively low numbers of coarse fishing days in the Borders is surprising (especially since Grayling, for the purposes of this study is included in the coarse fish category). Anecdote suggests that one there should be more days in this particular region/fishery combination. One particular angling club, which did not respond to the owner survey was reputed to be responsible for over 100 coarse angler days. Additional research did not produce sufficient evidence for this to be changed, prior to the calculation of economic impacts. Updating at some future date may be possible if further evidence is forthcoming.

Of the 1,386,043 angler days, 773,208 (56%) were made by locals. Table 6.1.2 provides a breakdown of local angler days by region and fishery type. The last column records the percentage of total angler days in each region fished by locals. It can be seen that anglers resident in the Central Region fish 81% of all angler days in the Central Region. This contrasts with the Borders and Highlands where local residents, respectively fish only 24% and 27% of angler days.

The last row in Table 6.1.2 records the percentage of total angler days for each species fished by local anglers. Local anglers fish only 39% of all salmon and sea trout angler days, whereas local anglers fish 67% of all rainbow trout days and 70% of all brown trout angler days.

Table 6.1.2 Angler Days by Local Anglers

Of the 1,386,043 angler days, only 242,979 (18%) were made Scottish visiting anglers. Table 6.1.3 provides further information on the angler days of Scottish anglers visiting other regions. The Highland region has the highest percentage of days fished by Scottish visiting anglers (24%). With respect to fishing type, 23% of rainbow trout angler days were fished by Scottish visiting anglers, compared with only 14% of salmon angler days.

Of the total 1,386,043 angler days, 369,855 (27%) were made by anglers from outside Scotland. Table 6.1.4 provides further information on angler days by non-Scottish visiting anglers. There are significant differences between regions in the relative importance of these anglers. In the Central region only 7% of all angler days are fished by visitors to Scotland, compared with 60% in the Borders and 50% in the Highland region. With respect to types of fishing, it is clear that salmon and sea trout angling attracts a greater proportion of anglers from outside Scotland. Indeed, non-Scottish visiting anglers are responsible for nearly a half of all salmon and sea trout angler effort .

Table 6.1.4 Angler Days by Non Scottish Visiting Anglers

6.2 Angler Expenditure Per Day

The estimates of angler expenditure include the expenditure by anglers on behalf of others. Therefore if an angler is paying for a spouse or offspring this is included. The independent expenditure of a non-angler accompanying an angler is not included. Thus, the expenditure by a spouse say buying a valuable antique while their partner is on a fishing trip is explicitly discounted in this study.

There is some evidence of considerable expenditure by anglers' companions, particularly salmon and sea trout anglers and some studies have made allowances for this expenditure. ²⁵ On the other hand, casual observations suggest that coarse anglers are less likely to have high spending non-angler companions. In the survey design stages ways were sought of capturing these effects. Unfortunately given the other priorities, the inclusion of this element produced unwieldy questionnaires. If this study was restricted to salmon angling, there may have been a stronger imperative to include at the expense of other elements. As a consequence, the economic importance of game angling may be underestimated.

The angler database provides estimates of the mean expenditure per angler day for each of the region/fishery combinations. These are presented in Table 6.2.1 below.

As expected, salmon angling attracts the highest spending per day, both generally (134.83) and across every region. On average, the Highlands is the most expensive region (140.04); though, rainbow trout in Dumfries and Galloway and coarse angling in the North East are marginally more expensive than in the Highlands.

Table 6.2.1 Angler Expenditure Per Day

It was also possible to estimate average daily expenditure for local anglers (from within the fishery region), Scottish visitor (from Scotland but out-with the fishery region) and non-Scottish visitor (other parts of the UK plus overseas). These are presented in Tables 6.2.2 to 6.2.4, below. The general pattern of the Highlands being the most expensive region, and salmon and sea trout being the most expensive type of fishing is replicated through these three tables.

Table 6.2.2 Local Angler Expenditure Per Day

Table 6.2.3 Scottish Visiting Angler Expenditure Per Day

Table 6.2.4 Non-Scottish Visiting Angler Expenditure Per Day

6.3 Angler Expenditure

Estimates of angler expenditure per day (Tables 6.2.1 to 6.2.4) were scaled using the information on angler days (Table 6.1.1 to 6.1.4) to produce estimates of total angler expenditure. The results are presented in Table 6.3.1 to 6.3.4 below .

Table 6.3.1 Angler Expenditure Summary Table ( 000s)

Anglers spend a total of 113million on angling in Scotland, with salmon and sea trout anglers accounting for over 65% (73m) of this total. It is worth noting that the comparable figure for salmon spending estimated by McKay Consultants was 54m.

Whilst in terms of angler days, rainbow trout angling in Central Scotland attracts the largest number of angler days, salmon and sea trout in the Highlands and the North East are much more significant in terms of expenditure.

Anglers fishing within their own region spent 36.8m and were responsible for (33%) of the 113m total. Table 6.3.2 below provides a breakdown of local angler spending by region and fishery type. The last column records the percentage of total regional expenditure made by local anglers. It can be seen that 69% of angler expenditure in the Central region is made by anglers from that region. This contrasts with the Borders and Highlands where local residents are responsible for only 8% and 17% of angler expenditure.

The last row in Table 6.3.2 records the percentage of total expenditure for each species made by local anglers. Local anglers make only 23% of salmon and sea trout angler expenditure, whereas local anglers make 56% of rainbow trout and 46% of brown trout angler expenditure.

Scottish visiting anglers spent a relatively modest 17m (15%) of the 113m total expenditure. Table 6.3.3 below provides further information on the expenditure by Scottish visiting anglers. The Western Isles is the region with the greatest proportion (37%) of its expenditure accounted for by such anglers. This is surprising since only 13% of the Western Isles angler days are by Scottish anglers visiting ( see Table 6.1.3). The relative costs of travelling to the Western Isles from within Scotland may be an explanatory factor.

Anglers from outside Scotland spent 59m (52%) of the 113m total expenditure. Table 6.3.4 below provides further information on the expenditure by non Scottish visiting anglers.

There are notable differences between regions in the relative importance of these anglers. In the Central region only 11% of angler expenditure is made by visitors to Scotland, compared with 82% in the Borders and 69% in the Highland region. With respect to types of fishing, anglers visiting Scotland made 66% of all expenditure on salmon and sea trout angling.

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