Jasper County fishing - Money on the line?
New study will look at economic impact
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

While the debate rages in the court of public opinion on the economic impact of fishing tournaments to Jasper, one group has taken a bold step in answering that question once and for all.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries Division, working off a grant funded by the Jasper County Development District #1, will formulate an economic value of recreational angling at Sam Rayburn Reservoir with emphasis on black bass tournaments held at the lake.

"We plan on segregating the economic impact for Jasper County as well as the entire local area, including the six counties that surround Jasper County," said Todd Driscoll, District Fisheries Biologist. "The development district asked us to specifically segregate Jasper County in this study."

Driscoll said the study will kick off in November and is expected to be complete by October of 2008.

"They really stepped up to the plate and funded the entire study," Driscoll said of the JCDD #1.

According to Driscoll, the objectives of the study will be to:

Estimate annual number of black bass tournaments and associated participants at Sam Rayburn Reservoir; Estimate annual direct expenditures, recreational value and economic impact of black bass tournaments to local counties surrounding Sam Rayburn Reservoir and to Texas. Estimate total annual direct expenditures, recreational value and economic impact of recreational angling to local communities surrounding Sam Rayburn Reservoir and to Texas.

This will be the second economic impact study that has been conducted by TP&W. The first one, finished in 2002, estimated the impact to the area at $15 million annually.

"When it was done, the study basically admitted that when it was finished the study design was not adequate to capture all the tournament related impact," Driscoll said. "It was probably a pretty good under estimate."

The Jasper office of TP&W will conduct the entire study.

Driscoll said this study would segregate the expenditures for non-tournament, recreational angling and tournament angling.

"We plan on segregating them out and then adding them up for a grand total," Driscoll said. "It will be real interesting to see what we estimate those expenditures to be."

In 2004, more than 300 bass tournaments were conducted at the reservoir with tournament angling comprising 19 percent of total angling effort

Driscoll said the study would seek the aid of the tournaments on the lake by gaining the mailing lists of participants in the tourneys.

"For those tournaments that agree to participate, we will be able to have an estimate of their specific tournament and its economic impact," Driscoll said.

He said the study plans on targeting 20-30 tournaments throughout the year.

"We expect this information to benefit the chambers of commerce and cities to know if their tourism dollars are worth recruiting tournaments into their local areas," Driscoll said.