This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Business & Tech

Will Economic Downturn Send Charter Fishing Industry Belly-up?

Numbers of charter trips fell drastically in 2009 in Port Washington, a dip the industry and the local economy are slow to recover from.

The economy has created bumpy waters for the charter fishing industry  — something that relies quite heavily on people being able to afford entertainment — and Port Washington’s fishing heritage has the city floating amid the economic turmoil.

In 2009, the number of charter trips taken from Port Washington’s shores was at 1,797, down from 2,331 in 2008, according to Brad Eggold, Southern Lake Michigan Fisheries supervisor for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

That's about 23 percent in one year, and seems to follow suit with statewide declines, where the number of charter fishing trips over a two-year period were down by more than 30 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to the DNR.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

The statewide industry did see an increase from 2009 to 2010, but only by about 4 percent. The increase in Port Washington was less than 1 percent.

"Between the drop in the amount of customers we’re seeing and the cost of the fuel rising, it’s putting a lot of us in a lot danger."

The industry generates more than $2.75 billion in Wisconsin and supports more than 30,000 jobs in the state, according to the DNR.

Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.

Dan Fox, who runs Fox Brothers Charter Service and captains the Foxy Lady in Port Washington, looks at the decline in the charter fishing trips through two different facets — company-related outings and recreational outings.

"Companies can’t justify spending money on entertainment; that’s been hit by 50 percent at least," Fox said. "Recreational outings have been affected, but not as badly. Overall, it’s 25 to 30 percent down."

Dan O'Keefe, a Michigan State University Extension educator who has been studying the fishing industry in the Great Lakes, agreed that the overall decline in charter trips is a result of a drop in “disposable” spending by corporations.

"There used be a whole lot of (business-based customers,) but you’ve seen that go away in large part," he said, adding the majority of customers are now vacationing families.

Charter dip hurts local business, too

Port Washington Mayor Scott Huebner explains the importance of the charter fishing industry to the city through a number of its contributions.

For instance, charter boats pay about $70,000 in dock fees to the Port marina each year, as well as purchase 50,000 gallons of gas from the marina, which can add up to about $170,000 in fuel, Huebner said.

"Conservatively, the customers they bring to Port Washington equates to roughly 2,800 hotel room rentals per season," he said, and adds up to about $400,000 in restaurant revenues.

All these things considered, it becomes apparent why a drop in charter trips will also affect the economy around it.

"Many who come to fish with a charter captain do not just fish, but they eat in our restaurants, shop in the stores, sleep in the hotels," said Kathy Tank, executive director of the Port Washington Tourism Council. "Our economy relies very heavily on tourism generated by the recreational opportunities of the lake, and charter fishing plays a major role in this. Everything went down in 2009, (and) I'm sure the decline in charters definitely contributed."

Plus, groups traveling to Port Washington for charter trips generally bring family and friends who don't fish but instead come along to shop and sight see, Tank said, something that probably happens less often now.

"Some of the decline (in Port's business) was probably due to the people who did come (for charter trips and) didn’t bring the people along with them," she said. "Groups were probably smaller and there wasn’t that spill over effect."

Charter captains also work with local hotels to set up charter and lodging deals for vacationers, Tank said. The fact that the number of charters were down "was definitely reflected in the stores and the restaurants and the lodging properties, I’m sure, all across the board," she said.

In 2009, when Port's economy saw a large economic dip across the board, lodging was down 17 percent, Tank said. Since then, the lodging industry has made a "slow but steady" recovery, she said, but is still not back to numbers it once saw.

Bill Reas, former president of the and retired charter captain considers the charter fishing industry the "nucleus" of downtown

"The charter industry brings in more money than every other industry combined in Ozaukee County, and I’ll stand by that," Reas said. "But, I haven’t seen the same number of ships on the water."

 The owner Jim Champeau, who also works as a fishing guide, has seen less business.

“The average sale is down,” said Champeau. “People are watching what they’re spending. If they have it they aren’t buying extras, if they lose it they aren’t replacing it, if it’s broken they’re fixing it."

Industry struggles nationwide

This isn’t just happening in Port Washington — charters across the country are suffering from the economy.

In 2005, Michigan charters took 12,476 trips, and in 2010 there were just 10,204 trips, an 18 percent decline, according to Terry Walsh, president of the Michigan Charter Boat Association.

"We're discretionary money for the average person; we’re entertainment money," said Gary Garvis, who runs a charter in Florida and is also president of the Charter Fisherman's Association. "Even though we've survived recessions in the past, this time (it's harder) since the housing collapse has affected everybody in America.

"There’s a lot of good fishermen in our industry that aren’t good businessmen … and those guys, some people have got discouraged and left the industry."

Barbara Powell, owner of Captain's Reel Deep Sea Fishing in Newport, OR, said her business lost one charter owner-operator this year, dropping its fleet from five charter boats to just four.

"It's down. Between the drop in the amount of customers we’re seeing and the cost of the fuel rising, it’s putting a lot of us in a lot danger," Powell said.

Ron Presley, secretary and treasurer for the Florida Guides Association said the state's association has lost membership, dropping from just over 300 to around 220.

"Many guides I talk to report improved bookings, but still not like it was," he said. "Some of those have left the industry entirely while others have reduced their charter business to a weekend venture after taking a full-time job to support their family. For those still making charters — all reports are of excellent fishing, so it is a shame more people are not able to take advantage of it. I guess it is just a matter of disposable income."

Good news is the fishing is getting better

Charter fishing was experiencing record-high numbers in trips run in Port Washington before the economic dip threw a wrench in the industry.

Despite business hardships, the quality fishing on the lake has helped charters pull through during this rough patch, local captains said. The DNR reports that this has been some of the best fishing the city has ever seen.

"We’ve seen the best salmon fishing in years," said Christopher Shea, a conservation warden for the DNR who is based in Port Washington.

The DNR is predicting the fishing on Lake Michigan to be similar for the upcoming season. This means Port Washington could see some of the best fishing numbers it has ever seen.

“It looks very promising,” said Port Washington Charter Captains Association President Bryant VanAernum. “We’ll have close to the same number of cohos coming through, so if the water temperature is right, it looks promising.”

Although charter fishing as a whole has not completely come back to where it once was, business for some charters has seen a drastic improvement,  VanAernum said.

“As far as it being better than last year, it definitely was,” said VanAernum. “Van’s catch was up 30 percent from last year. It was an awesome year for all species on the water.”

The total numbers for the 2011 season are still being put together.

O'Keefe, of Michigan State University Extension, said there is generally a bit of a lag time between good fishing and a pick up in the industry, so as word spreads that Lake Michigan had some great fishing this past summer — more and more trips could be booked for next year.

But Fox and other local captains understands it takes more than just good fishing to make a successful season. Charter fishing goes “hand-in-hand” with everything else in the economy and will require more than just the fish biting to get the industry back to where it was.

“Business has a chance to come, once everyone starts to feel a little more comfortable,” Fox said. "I’ve been doing this for 37 years, so I know how fishing is compared to how it once was. If the lake stays healthy and marketing is good, well, yeah — it can come back."
______________________________________________

This story is part of an ongoing series, "Dispatches: The Changing American Dream." You can read more stories from across the country at The Huffington Post.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Port Washington-Saukville