00:02Fishing is big business. In America in 2025, 57 million people went fishing. That's up from about
00:0950 million in 2019 due to a COVID era boom in the sport. It's also big money for western states.
00:16Climate change's effect on snowpack has long been a wintertime problem for the outdoors industry.
00:21Now it's a summertime problem too. As states impose fishing restrictions and clients cancel
00:27trips, guides, outfitters, and local economies dependent on people who come to play on the water
00:33are feeling the impact. So it's early afternoon in Colorado and water temperatures at a popular
00:41fishing spot are already nearing the mid-60s. Now what that means is that if temperatures rise any
00:50higher, it's generally advisable to stop fishing for trout, which is the prize species that anglers
00:55target in this area. The reason being is that as water temperatures get hotter, there's less oxygen
01:02for the fish. And when there's less oxygen and that fish is caught and released, it has a lower chance
01:08of surviving catch. So what's happening in places like Colorado and other western states is voluntary
01:14restrictions are being placed on rivers. In Colorado alone, about 650 miles of waterways are under
01:20voluntary restrictions that advises anglers not to fish from midday to midnight, generally when water
01:26temperatures are the highest. Fly fishing for economies like this Breckenridge, Colorado can mean
01:33big numbers and big business. In recent years, Colorado Parks and Wildlife estimates that anglers
01:39contributed some two billion dollars to the economy in a single year. After last year's historic snow
01:45drought, which scientists say was made more likely by the effects of climate change. Lakes, reservoirs,
01:51and bodies of water like this, the Colorado River, have been hitting all-time lows. Many states across
01:57the western U.S. are also in drought conditions more severe than last year. Behind me is a stark reminder
02:04of the conditions that some states in the American west are facing this summer. This is a reservoir in the
02:12mountains of Colorado that you can see from the steep embankments here. It is sitting significantly low
02:17historic levels. Ben is walking across a parched river bed that normally would be full of water.
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