By ANDY GARDNER

 WADDINGTON -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a brief appearance as the Bassmaster Elite Series Evan Williams Bourbon Showdown opened this morning where he spoke in support of using tourism to bring much-needed dollars and jobs back to the area.

“A priority for me and the state team is getting the economy up and running,” Cuomo said. “Fishing is a $1.8 billion industry for upstate New York.”

A statement from Cuomo’s office says that money fuels some 17,000 jobs.

“[Cuomo] knows tourism, in particular fishing, is an important way to spurn economic development in our region,” St. Lawrence County Legislature Chairman Jonathan Putney said during a brief speech.

Cuomo closed his remarks by stating that the Bassmaster Elite tournament will return to the state in the Finger Lakes region next year.

“We want to make this on ongoing tradition,” according to the governor.

Cuomo referred to the northern New York fishery as “an untold secret.”

“Millions of people will see this site on television,” Cuomo said. “Bringing this event to Waddington and St. Lawrence County is a big, big score.

Portions of the tournament will be broadcast on the B.A.S.S. website, also ESPN 2 and the Outdoor Network. The tournament has drawn 99 professional anglers from all corners of the globe, one trekking from as far away as Japan.

His statements come on the heels of efforts to make New York state a tourism destination, including signing the Upstate NY Gaming Economic Development Act, allowing construction of four resort casinos, pending a fall referendum.

The weekend is expected to bring large crowds and large amounts of dollars that come with them to New York state, Cuomo said, noting a PGA tournament near Rochester and a NASCAR event at Watkins Glen are also taking place.

Prior to Cuomo taking the podium, Bassmaster Elite tournament director Chris Bose praised the area’s waters.

“It’s one of the best fisheries in the nation,” he said, adding that Bassmaster magazine ranked then area number 13 on a list of the 100 best bass fisheries in the U.S. last year.

Bose noted that Waddington’s tournament is “the largest local festival in the history of Bassmaster Elite.”