44 SALMON GEAR LIMITATION 



salmon fishermen or the net economic benefit derived from sport 

 fishing. Because no Hcense is required we do not have even moderately 

 accurate estimates of the number of sport fishermen. 



It is estimated that the number of salt water sport fishermen in 

 Washington State ranges from 300,000 to 350,000. In recent years 

 sportsmen have approached a million angler trips annually in Wash- 

 ington State, considerably more than half of them within Puget Sound 

 and the Strait of Juan de Fuca area. Between 500,000 and 1,000,000 

 fish have been taken annually by sportsmen in recent years, about 

 half of which are taken in Puget Sound and the Strait area. 



The degree of competition between sport fishing and commercial 

 net fishing in Puget Sound is not as severe as these figures might 

 suggest, however. While sports fishermen do take some pink salmon 

 (50,000 to 90,000 in odd-numbered years) the bulk of the sport 

 catch is made up of chinooks and silvers. These species normally 

 account for only about 10 per cent of the total value of the net caught 

 salmon in Puget Sound waters, but the catch cannot be regulated 

 separately from the other important commercial species. In addition, 

 the peak of the sport fishery for ocean-run silvers occurs prior to the 

 peak of their availability for commercial fishing. 



These figures do not imply that there is no conflict of interest 

 at all between commercial net fishermen and sportsmen. It does sug- 

 gest the following conclusions: (1) greater efficiency in the com- 

 mercial fishery would permit profitable operation without restriction 

 of sport fishing, (2) sport fishing is now a major state industry which 

 must be considered in any comprehensive management program, and 

 (3) sportsmen as well as commercial fishermen should share in the 

 costs of effective management and propagation of the Puget Sound 

 runs in proportion to their use. 



Effect of Gear Reduction on Earnings 



Financial data obtained in the surveys of purse seiners, gill 

 netters, and reef netters provide an alternative way to indicate the 

 approximate savings that could be realized if the amount of gear 

 were reduced. To do this, costs were broken down into three cate- 

 gories: ( 1 ) labor costs (including fishermen shares to owners), which 

 vary directly with value of the catch of the individual boat; (2) run- 

 ning costs, which vary directly with actual fishing time, and include 

 fuel, groceries, and part of repairs and net supplies; and (3) fixed 

 costs which are encumbered for the season regardless of the number 



