Shoreside Economic Analysis for the Oregon Territorial Sea Plan: Final Report

Identification Information

Citation

Originator: Hesselgrave, Taylor, Charles Steinback, Cheryl Chen, Kristen Sheeran, Jon Bonkoski, Sarah Kruse, John Stevenson, Scott Fletcher, Leanne Weiss, and Nick Lyman

Publish Date: 2011

Online Link: None

BPA Project #:

Contact Information

Agency: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

Name: Lindsay Aylesworth

Job Position: Marine Reserves Program Leader

Telephone: 541-867-4741

E-Mail Address: lindsay.x.aylesworth@odfw.oregon.gov

Description

Abstract: The primary goal of this project was to understand and to detail the value and economic contribution of marine resources to the shoreside economy and communities of Oregon. More specifically, the objectives were to examine patterns of income, expenditures, and employment in marine related industries such as commercial fishing, charter fishing, recreation, and tourism. To fulfill these objectives, Ecotrust staff reviewed the literature, engaged in extensive coastal outreach, and convened several stakeholder focus groups. We also collected, summarized, and analyzed primary data on coastal businesses and recreational fishing expenditures, and leveraged this data with existing datasets to provide a more complete, comprehensive characterization of Oregon‘s shoreside economy. Lastly, we updated MarineMap, an important decision support tool to inform marine spatial planning, to reflect some of what we have learned about the contributions of marine resources to the shoreside economy. The resulting data, analyses, and tools form a valuable basis for informing the potential siting of renewable ocean energy projects off Oregon, and supporting marine spatial planning more broadly. As part of this project, a total of 61 coastal businesses were surveyed, including tackle/marine suppliers, processors/distributors, ports, charters, marinas, and non-consumptive shops. Seventy-eight percent of business survey respondents reported that their success in business is "extremely influenced" by the wellbeing of Oregon‘s coast. Respondents were also asked what portion of their gross economic revenues came from tourism (40% on average across all respondents), what portion went towards wages (30%), and what portion was spent in coastal counties in Oregon (54%). Our results confirmed that the revenues of the surveyed businesses are closely tied to commercial, charter, and recreational fishing activities. We also found that the majority of jobs supported by these businesses were full-time, not part-time, with substantial seasonal variability. To better understand the importance of Oregon‘s marine resources to coastal recreational users, our analysis used survey results compiled by The Surfrider Foundation. Surfrider surveyed 4,072 randomly selected individuals to obtain detailed spatial and economic data on Oregon‘s coastal recreational use. Surfrider found that, on average, respondents visited the coast 6.3 times a year and spent $88 per trip. Extrapolating their findings to a larger study population, they estimated that $2.4 billion was spent on coastal visits by 4.4 million permanent residents of Oregon and four Washington counties in 2010. The top three coastal recreation activities are scenic enjoyment, beach going, and photography. Coastal users spend approximately 75% of their total trip budget on lodging, dining, and food stores. Over the course of this project and our previous work, Supporting the Oregon Territorial Sea Plan Revision (Steinback et al., 2010), we interviewed a total of 113 recreational fishermen. Reported annual recreational fishing expenditures varied greatly, from a low $100 to a high of $68,700, though the majority of responses (85%) fell below $15,000. Based on the survey responses, we determined that recreational fishermen spent more of their expenditures on fuel (24%) than on any other category of expenditures, followed by boat maintenance/expenses (12%) and gear and tackle (11%). Expenditures on food from stores, restaurants, and lodging expenses averaged approximately 12% for survey respondents. An analysis by the Research Group (2011) estimates that recreational fishing in Oregon in 2009 contributed $5.1 million in personal income to residents of the state. As part of this project, we also interviewed 63 charter fishing owners and operators in Oregon. The average respondent received approximately 63% of his gross economic revenue from charter operations. Across all respondents, the most popular target fisheries were salmon, rockfish, and Dungeness crab, constituting 46%, 42%, and 39% of all charter trips on average respectively. Statewide, we estimated charter operators received $7 million in charter revenue in 2010, of which 15%, 15%, and 38% are spent on crew, fuel, and other operating expenses respectively. Based on ex-vessel landings data, we estimated the value of commercially landed seafood in Oregon at $99.8 million annually. By port, landings values ranged from approximately $144 thousand (Depoe Bay) to $31.8 million (Newport) annually based on a five-year average. Dungeness crab was by far the largest fishery in Oregon contributing 41% of total landings; in fact this single fishery was responsible for 25%-75% of total landings values across the majority of port groups. In terms of average annual landings, Newport, Astoria, and Coos Bay/Charleston together constituted almost 85% of state landings. From surveys of 244 commercial fishermen, we also determined that 71% of the average annual commercial landings value ($70.9 million) went towards commercial fishing operating costs: 31% went towards general operating costs; 28% went to crew costs; and 12% went to fuel costs. To estimate the broader economic impacts of these human-use activities to the shoreside economy, we applied economic output multipliers to commercial and charter fishing gross revenue data and estimated personal income contributions from commercial and recreational fishing. We estimated that commercial fisheries in Oregon from 2004–2008 produced $189.3 million in total economic output from harvesting activities annually. Over the same time period, we also estimated that harvest and processing activities related to commercial fisheries produced $228.7 million in personal income statewide annually. We estimated the total economic output associated with charter fishing for the state of Oregon to be $10.8 million in 2010. Finally, we identified and briefly addressed issues that are important to Oregon's shoreside economy but were outside of the scope of this study. These include: 1) coastal attitudes and perceptions related to wave energy and marine reserve sites; 2) motivations and reasoning behind people‘s decisions to reside in coastal areas and its impacts on property values; 3) the value of ecosystem services to shoreside economies and the contribution of other non-market values. Further investigation of these issues would yield a more comprehensive understanding of the contributions of marine resources to the coastal economy and state of Oregon.

Purpose:

Time Period of Content:

Geographic Extent: Oregon

Status: Final

Use Constraints: Prepared for Oregon Dept. Fish and Wildlife by Ecotrust

Format: PDF

Data Quality Information

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Is a physical copy maintained for reference at Headquarters? Unknown