Maine is missing an enormous economic opportunity by not aggressively marketing its hunting and fishing industries and by underfunding the state agencies that manage wildlife, the head of Maine’s largest sporting group told Bangor-area business leaders Thursday.

George Smith, executive director of the 14,000-member Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, said he is alarmed by declining interest in hunting and fishing among both residents and non-Mainers who historically come to the state in search of a wilderness experience.

The total number of hunting and fishing licenses for Maine residents dropped 5.6 percent between 1993 and 2004, while the number of licenses for nonresidents declined by 22.5 percent. Maine granted roughly 473,300 hunting and fishing licenses last year, compared with more than 527,000 in 1993.

“We are losing our outdoor heritage, and we are losing our outdoor economy,” said Smith, speaking at a business breakfast sponsored by Husson College.

But that doesn’t have to happen, Smith said.

Contrary to popular opinion, big-game hunting, such as for bear, deer and moose, is growing in popularity nationwide, he said. Hunters as well as serious anglers often are willing to spend “big bucks” for excursions in search of big game or fish, Smith said.

“Unfortunately, Maine is not participating in the growth,” he said.

Smith cited various reasons he believes Maine has struggled to draw more out-of-state sportsmen, but a big one is marketing. Other states, including New Hampshire, as well as the Canadian provinces, are waging successful marketing campaigns to woo sporting types into their forests and rivers.

“There is money to be made if we think, plan and spend strategically … and if we step up to the plate to compete for the sportsmen’s dollars,” Smith told the nearly 70 people attending the breakfast.

Smith said other states, such as Colorado, also have more aggressive fish stocking programs than Maine, which helps in marketing. And he called for dramatic increases in funding for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and other state agencies involved with wildlife issues.

Mark Latti, a spokesman with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, agreed with Smith’s sentiments on the importance of marketing. With the help of marketing, the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland, Labrador and Quebec are positioning themselves as premier destinations for sportsmen.

Meanwhile, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife’s annual budget for marketing dropped from approximately $200,000 five years ago to about $50,000 this year.

That money has to cover not only marketing but also travel expenses for attending trade shows, advertising, and department brochures, including safety pamphlets, Latti said.

“We do have to market ourselves as a destination,” Latti said. “We are handicapped because there is not a lot of money for that. … As the state experiences a budget crunch, that is one of the areas that gets hit.”

On the issue of the number of licenses issued, Latti said Maine’s figures have stabilized in recent years while numbers nationwide continue to decline.

Smith also used Thursday’s breakfast as another opportunity to call for lifting Maine’s ban on Sunday hunting. Calling it an “economic issue,” Smith said Maine is losing money to nearby states that do allow hunting on Sundays.

The Legislature has rejected every attempt over the past two decades to lift the ban.

A recent survey of state residents for the Wildlife Alliance of Maine, meanwhile, found overwhelming opposition to expanding hunting to Sundays.

Seventy-five percent of the 601 people polled statewide said they support the state’s ban on Sunday hunting, while 19 percent favored overturning the ban. The remaining 6 percent had no opinion or were undecided.