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It's no secret to avid fishermen that Costa Rica is an angler's paradise: A recent study of tourism patterns of 2008 showed that of 2.1 million tourists visiting here that year, 283,790 were here for the fishing.
They dropped $599 million into local coffers and had a ball doing it. The joint study by the Billfish Foundation, Southwick Associates and the University of Costa Rica showed they were here for the marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna, wahoo and mahimahi.
Moreover, the income accounted for almost 2% of the gross national product and indirectly generated $78 million in tax revenues and accounted for 63,000 jobs. This is more, the study claims, than the $528 million and 57,000 jobs contributed by commercial fishing in the same waters.
But there are more laurels for sports fishing: it's sustainable. Since it's the catching of the fish that most interests sportsmen, catch-and-release techniques are universal here, meaning that the silvery denizens live to bite another day.
Southwick's research also discovered that of 7.5 million of the world's tourists who traveled to fish in 2009, 3.6% came to this small country. Of 116,000 Us anglers who came here last year, 40% would not have come if it were not for fishing quality, the peace and quiet of the country, and such services as high quality boats and their crews.
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