The summary of the report published by the MMO states
“The surveys estimated there are 884,000 sea anglers in England, with 2% of all adults going sea angling. These anglers make a significant contribution to the economy – in 2012, sea anglers resident in England spent £1.23 billion on the sport, equivalent to £831 million direct spend once imports and taxes had been excluded. This supported 10,400 full-time equivalent jobs and almost £360 million of gross value added (GVA). Taking indirect and induced effects into account, sea angling supported £2.1 billion of total spending, a total of over 23,600 jobs, and almost £980 million of GVA.”
These are big numbers. Unfortunately, the data is not regionalised, so it is difficult to estimate the proportion attributable to the Solent. Just less than a quarter of the sea angling launches in England operate from the South Coast between Anvil Point and Eastbourne.
Solent Protection Society 