The Holyrood Executive has announced that angling reels in £113 million a year for the Scottish economy.

Ministers have welcomed a study that finds the industry accounts for more than 3,000 jobs north of the border.

The comments came as Glasgow Caledonian University released a report looking at the economic impact of game and coarse angling in Scotland.

Deputy environment and rural development minister Allan Wilson said the importance of angling could not be underestimated.

"Angling is reputedly Britain's biggest participative sport. For a long time, there has been a perception that angling was important to the Scottish economy. This report makes that perception a reality," he said.

"With an annual expenditure of £113 million and 2,800 jobs being supported, most of them in rural areas, the sport of game and coarse angling, not only helps foster an appreciation of our country's natural resources, but also brings clear economic benefits to Scotland, particularly rural Scotland."

And he vowed that the Executive would explore new ways to develop the sport in a sustainable way.

"This report underlines the value of the work being done by the Executive and its Agencies to understand the biology of Scotland's freshwater fish and the work undertaken to protect and improve Scotland's rural and freshwater resources, which plays such an important role in providing the necessary environment in which the sport of angling can prosper," said the minister.

"We are grateful for the cooperation of so many organisations and individuals with an interest in angling in providing the information necessary to allow completion of this important work.

"The Executive gave a commitment in our Partnership Agreement to continue to promote access for anglers to watercourses. We all know how valuable our fish are in natural heritage terms, and we know how much we should be promoting this sport.

"This report has shown us just how much a sustainable angling sector can add to Scotland's economy too."

And the Executive confirmed it is planning new legislation to ensure the industry is supported over coming years.

"The recent consolidation of the Scottish salmon and freshwater fisheries legislation, some of it more than a century old, gives us the opportunity to look afresh at the legislative framework underpinning the sport," said Wilson.

"New legislation is planned, within this parliament, to address issues such as fishing methods, access and management."