Lake Erie fishing nets $40 million in tourism dollars. Is it enough?

A Senate Game & Fisheries Committee meeting focused on the recovery of fish populations and water quality in Lake Erie, as well as the need for more funding to promote tourism for the area.

“It is hard to deny that we are in the good old days currently,” said Sen. Dan Laughlin, of Millcreek, R-49th Dist., who is chairman of the Game & Fisheries Committee. “It is our responsibility as members of this committee to ensure that we do our part to maintain this level of biodiversity and continue these trends for generations to come.”

The environmental improvements have had strong economic effects for the lake.

“The economic implications this industry has on this region helps everything from small family-owned businesses to restaurants, hotels, and so on,” Laughlin said.

The fisheries in the lake have made some impressive recoveries, said Mark Haffley, a fisheries biologist with the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

Lake Erie’s walleye population has risen to 75 million fish aged 2 or older, Haffley said.

“This is the eighth-highest population estimate dating back to 1978," he said. "The commission has seen unprecedented reproductive success in the last three years.

“Lake Erie is an incredible resource and fishery for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

Healthy fish drive tourism

Though invasive species such as the zebra mussels created problems, fish have recovered. The mussels filtered the water in the lake and made it cleaner, Haffley noted.

“It’s hard to give a positive opinion about an invasive species ... however, in my personal opinion, the zebra mussels and now the quagga mussels have been a huge benefit to Lake Erie.”

The health of the fish also drive a strong tourism boost.

John Oliver, the president and CEO of VisitErie, cited a 2016 study out of Penn State University that estimated the economic impact of angling on Lake Erie at $40 million. But Oliver argued more funds to promote the area are needed.

“We know that all of the states surrounding Pennsylvania are spending more,” Oliver said. “Pennsylvania’s actual tourism budget is about $9 million.”

New York, he noted, spends $50 million to $70 million. Based on the size of the commonwealth’s tourism economy, Oliver cited a study from Tourism Economics that estimated Pennsylvania should spend closer to $39 million to be competitive.

Create a tourism improvement district?

Oliver mentioned creating a tourism improvement district or a hotel tax to boost the county’s budget for promoting tourism.

“Visitors are paying those dollars, it’s not coming out from local taxpayers,” Oliver said. “So a tourism improvement district would again be something that would generate additional revenue for us to promote our fisheries, our water and everything else without impacting local budgets.”

Erie County Executive Brenton Davis argued that the northwest corner gets neglected.

“Historically, this Lake Erie shoreline has been ignored, I would say, by Harrisburg for a long time, and we’re seeing that (disinvestment)," Davis said.

“Zero money has been invested in economic development which we’re trying to fix at the county level, but the taxpayers of Erie County can’t be expected. We don’t have a mechanism for funding that economic development,” Davis said. “We’ve got this gem here. We’re the only county in Pennsylvania that touches the Great Lakes system – we don’t have any money to market it.”

David cautioned that infrastructure development should be done with financial pragmatism.

“We just want to make sure that whatever that investment is, that it garners an economic return, but it also doesn’t compromise that sense of place for the bay front,” Davis said.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pennsylvania hearing focuses on Lake Erie fish, tourism