#Angling - Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) says it stands over the findings of a recent socio-economic study of recreational angling in Ireland, following what it described as "erroneous reports in certain elements of the media" suggesting that angling's contribution to the economy was overstated.
IFI says the principal results of the study, which was published in July 2013, estimate that recreational angling in Ireland contributes some €755 million to the Irish economy and supports more than 10,000 jobs in peripheral and rural areas.
"The results in this report are based on sound economic principles," said the fisheries body in a statement. "The report was compiled by industry experts Tourism Development International (TDI) who are a renowned and widely respected professional consultancy company."
The work team included Dr Stephen Hynes of the Socio-Economic Marine Research Unit of NUI Galway, while Prof Brendan Whelan, former director of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), provided direction and assistance in the design of the survey and review of the report and findings.
"Regrettably it appears that inaccurate extrapolations from the study data prepared and published by a Scottish aquaculture blog has underpinned a complete misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the findings of the study, which was used by a lobby group in a recent communication to the media," IFI added.
The full study is available to download from the IFI website HERE.
