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Ohio's 1998 Lake Erie Charter Fishing Industry
Author(s) -
Lichtkoppler Frank R.,
Hushak Leroy
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(2001)026<0015:olecfi>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - charter , fishing , fishery , fishing industry , commercial fishing , business , geography , archaeology , biology
Charter fishing provides important access to sport fishing. To monitor changes in Ohio's Lake Erie charter fishing industry, we surveyed a random sample of 319 licensed Ohio charter captains by mail in the spring of 1999 for data from the 1998 charter season. The Ohio charter industry grew rapidly in the 1980s, peaked at 1,211 captains in 1990, and stood at 958 in 1998 despite large declines in angling effort and fish harvest of sport species. It is a marginal economic enterprise for the individual charter firm; almost 40% of Ohio captains struggle with their cash flow. Only those captains making 41 or more trips (31%) had a substantial average net profit ($5,576). Almost 93% of responding captains have modified their fishing practices due to increased water clarity in Lake Erie and 27% have added nonfishing charters to their mix of services. In 1998, the top rated concerns of the responding captains were illegal fishing practices, poor weather conditions, and business cost factors. Our 1998 survey shows that the Ohio Lake Erie charter industry continues to provide anglers ample opportunity for a great Lake Erie fishing experience. However, captains need to look for ways to expand the potential charter client pool to improve the viability of the industry.