New Report Measures Economic Value of Recreational Fishery to SA’s Economy

Suppliers to the recreational fishing sector have had good reason to be concerned about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their livelihoods. This is demonstrated in a new report from the Southern African Fisheries and Ecology Research (SAFER) Lab, based at the Department of Ichthyology and Fisheries Science at Rhodes University. It’s authors, Warren Potts and Christopher Boya, also highlight how economic activity generated by the recreational fishery in South Africa might play an important role in social development.

It is only relatively recently that the value the recreational fishery represents to the South African economy has become a topic of conversation. Largely unregulated to date, there have only been a few studies of participation in – and on the fringes of – this sector, and what this could mean for future development of a recreational fishing industry in South Africa.