Socio-economic data - Netherlands
According to available data from Wageningen Marine Research, in 2017, there are in total 1.12 million anglers in the Netherlands, divided between 1 million anglers in fresh waters and more than 500,000 anglers at sea. It represents around 6.4% of the population.
It is estimated, in 2017, that marine recreational fishers have an annual direct, indirect and induced contribution to the economy of over €270 million. They also support around 1,835 jobs in the country. A previous study, from 2010, estimates the direct effects of recreational fisheries for fresh and salted water represents over €341 million.
The number of foreign angling tourists has shown a strong increase of 62.9% between 2016 (41,620) to 2019 (67,779). Over 80 % of those tourists come from Germany. These data however strongly underestimate the reality. Beach holidays are very popular and sea angling does not require a license and therefore escapes registration. It is estimated that there are well over 100,000 foreign tourists each year.
Sportvisserij Nederland has commissioned a study into participation and effort trending. WMR will execute this work and the results of the study will be available in the second half of 2020. Based upon such insights, direct expenditure and economic impact of the angling sector in the Netherlands in more recent years can be deduced.
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