Sportsmen and sportswomen have been making positive waves in Indiana with the money they spend on hunting and fishing. Lt. Gov. Joseph Kernan, who serves as director of the Indiana Department of Commerce. Richard Parker, owner of Parker s Central Park Bait in Mishawaka, says business at his bait shop and charter fishing service has more than tripled in the last three years. We should do even better this year as more people find out about the fantastic trout, salmon and smallmouth bass fishing in the area, said Parker. The survey numbers are even more impressive when the economic multiplier or ripple effect is added in.
Multiplier formulas estimate how many times a dollar is respent in a local economy.
Wildlife is thriving in Indiana, and the harvest of these abundant resources creates jobs and economic growth, said Indiana Department of Natural Resources director Larry Macklin. Ferree sells traditional archery equipment in Ashley, Indiana. He says the healthy economy has allowed the development of new products for their Gator Grip line of fishing gear new gear which will be made by skilled machinists from the area. The 1996 survey also shows that hunters in Indiana have increased by 8 percent and the angler population has grown by 1 percent, while the number of citizens participating in wildlife recreation such as wildlife photography, viewing or feeding has dropped 15 percent. This survey is conducted every five years by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.