Sport shooting may not be popular in the federal election, but its contribution to the country’s economy should be recognized by all the parties campaigning , says an influential association backed by firearm retailers and related businesses.

However, an independent survey commissioned by the same group, the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association, indicates that fishing is a better catch when it comes to boosting jobs and economic activity.

A report from the Conference Board of Canada survey that the association released on Wednesday breaks down spending and job creation through fishing, hunting, trapping and sport shooting — a total of $18.9 billion in spending last year that supported an estimated 58,000 jobs across the country.

Fishing came out on top.

“Among the four activities, fishing leaves the biggest footprint,” said the Conference Board report, adding that an estimated three million Canadians fish, spending $10 billion on fishing alone in 2018.

Sport shooting, which centres on restricted handguns and certain semi-automatic rifles that have sparked a storm of controversy in Canada over the past year and during the current federal election, came in third, out of the four recreational and subsistence groupings, ahead only of the $131 million spent on trapping.

The shooting sports, which can take place only at licensed shooting clubs and ranges, generated $2.6 billion in spending in 2018, with an estimated 1.4 million gun enthusiasts taking part. Handguns are the predominant choice in sport shooting, followed by semi-automatic rifles and likely also bow and arrow, although licences are not required to use them.

Hunters spent $5.8 billion.

Fishing drew the largest number of participants, with an estimated 2.9 million fishers footnoted to a variety of sources, including the Conference Board of Canada, compared to the 1.4 million sport shooters, 1.3 million hunters and 44,783 trappers.

Despite the standings, the Canadian Sporting Arms and Ammunition Association called on all political parties campaigning for the Oct. 21 election to take into account the economic contributions from firearm owners, retailers, dealers and the entire industry in general.

“We think a $5.9-billion GDP contribution and 48,000 jobs should matter to our political leaders, all of our political leaders,” said Alison De Groot, the association’s managing director.

“When we hear policies bandied about and things like handgun bans and the lack of depth of knowledge on the current modern, technical firearms that’s being tossed around in the public and political debate, we do not hear any expertise. We do not hear any conversations about job losses or business losses,”

“We have 4,500 small businesses and 48,000 jobs, and nobody is talking about the effects that these policies will have on those business owners and those jobs.”

this story has been updated to correct the release day of the report to Wednesday