Sport Fish Restoration: What Is It Worth?

From 1950 until 1985, the Sport Fish Restoration Program was funded entirely from excise taxes on sport fishing equipment. Additional revenue sources were added in 1985, but excise taxes still constitute a significant portion of the funds made available to state agencies for fisheries programs. Since the beginning, some manufacturers of taxed equipment have questioned the economic value of this program. Part of their skepticism is attributable to government agencies communicating how much they spent on projects, but not analyzing the benefits to product sales or growth in angler participation. Utilizing data collected by agencies, an assessment of the “return-on-investment” to manufacturers and to the economy was conducted. Overall annual returns exceeding 1,000 percent were measured although some project specific returns were negative. Factors contributing to these large returns and implications to industry and the program will be discussed.