SHELBURNE FALLS — According to Trout Unlimited, the popularity of fly fishing on the Deerfield and its tributaries is rising. But how does this affect the local economy?
The Deerfield River Trout Unlimited is conducting an online survey over the next few months to find out how many people come to the region for fly fishing, where they come from and how much money they spend while here.
“Protecting this wonderful resource and enhancing the Deerfield’s cold-water fishery is what drives our membership,” says Kevin Parsons, president of the local Trout Unlimited chapter. “Many anglers travel substantial distances to fish here. These folks spend hundreds of dollars on guides, stay at hotels, go to restaurants and stores, and otherwise contribute to the regional economy.”
“Our survey will assess this economic impact,” he said. “No such economic impact of fly fishing has been done for this area.”
Parsons believes there are hundreds of fly fishing enthusiasts who hire guides to go out to the Deerfield River and its tributaries — providing a living wage to at least eight professional guides in the region.
“Some people don’t use guides but still spend a lot of money out here,” he said. “The objective is to assess the economic impact, so we can go to state and environmental agencies, to emphasize and acknowledge how important (the river) is. The multiplier effect of people coming out here is significant. They typically spend a lot.”
From April through October, Parsons said, there are generally 10 to 15 people fishing the Deerfield from Charlemont to the Brookfield Dam. He said summer weekends usually bring out between 30 to 40 people a day and 15 to 25 on weekdays.
Parsons said the state stocks the river, as part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing process for utility dams; but there is also spawning going on in the river.
“It’s important to understand the impact this sport has on our region,” he said. “We seek to gain an understanding of how this activity impacts our economy and share this information with our government officials and agency heads. Our effort is to demonstrate the importance of protecting and enhancing area cold water rivers and streams for not only ecological reasons but also economic benefit as well.”
Chris Jackson, vice president of the local Trout Unlimited chapter, is one of the river guides. “While the Deerfield is already a good trout river, it could become a great river,” he said. “The reputation of a better fishery will grow both conservation programs, such as the Crowningshield Area Project in Heath, and have significant positive economic impacts throughout the Deerfield River Valley.”
This Trout Unlimited chapter has teamed up with area fishing guides, fly-fishing shops, outfitters in eastern Massachusetts as well as with other chapters to encourage Deerfield River anglers to take the survey. These board members, shops and guides will be distributing business cards listing a direct link to the online survey, as well as a bar code that, when scanned by a smartphone, will take the angler directly to the survey.
The online survey is at deerfield rivertroutunlimited.com/survey/