THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF FISHING SUCCESS: 

 AN APPLICATION OF SOCIOECONOMIC SURVEY DATA 



Richard J. Agnello' 



ABSTRACT 



This paper focuses on an economic frameworl( for analyzing some of the elements in the management 

 of marine recreational fisheries. In addition, estimates are provided for valuing fishing success to marine 

 anglers targeting on three Atlantic coast species: bluefish. summer flounder, and weakfish. 



Demand functions for sport fishing are estimated with cross-section data using the travel cost method. 

 Fishing trips per season are related to travel cost, fishing success, and income for individual fishermen. 

 The marginal value of fishing success is determined using alternative models and estimation techniques. 

 The data come from a one-time socioeconomic survey conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service 

 in 1981. 



The findings show that marginal valuations for fishing success as measured by the number of fish 

 kept by fishermen vary considerably among target species. In addition, these marginal values are quite 

 sensitive to the empirical formulation of the model. The findings provide managers with some objective 

 basis for evaluating policies affecting marine recreational fisheries. The wide range of values computed 

 from the same data set, however, should caution us, and indicates the need for more theoretical and 

 applied economic research in this area. 



In order to efficiently manage marine recreational 



fisheries, information on economic valuations is re- 

 quired. Since recreational fisheries are typically in 

 the nonmarket sector, traditional markets do not 

 provide much direct information on recreational 

 values in total or at the margin. As a result, man- 

 agement is hampered for recreational fisheries 

 especially when attempting to evaluate activities 

 which have potential effects on these fisheries. 



In recent years, many studies have been per- 

 formed to determine economic valuations of changes 

 in several dimensions of recreational experiences. 

 Examples from a variety of areas include water 

 quality (Bouwes and Schneider 1979; Desvousges et 

 al. 1983), congestion levels on beaches (McConnell 

 1977), and harvest rates for himting (Miller and Hay 

 1981). For recreational fisheries, most studies tra- 

 ditionally have focused on freshwater sports fish- 

 ing where the data base is generally stronger. Ex- 

 amples of empirical studies focusing on valuation of 

 freshwater recreational fishing with emphasis on the 

 importance of fishing success include Stevens (1966), 

 Vaughan and Russell (1982), and Samples and 

 Bishop (1985). In recent years, more attention has 

 been directed towards saltwater recreational fish- 

 eries (examples include McConnell and Strand 1981 

 and Thompson and Huppert 1987). 



'Department of Economics, University of Delaware, Newark, 

 DE 19716. 



Manuscript accepted October 1988. 

 Fishery BuUetin, U.S. 87:223-232. 



Marine recreational fishing is particularly impor- 

 tant because of its size and interactions with other 

 sectors. It is estimated that more than 17 million 

 marine anglers catch over 717 miUion pounds of fish 

 and contribute over $7.5 billion dollars to the U.S. 

 economy (U.S. Department of Commerce 1985). Al- 

 though commercial marine harvests are consider- 

 ably larger (6.3 billion pounds in 1985), conflicts 

 between the two sectors are increasing and provide 

 additional rationale for investigation into marine 

 recreational valuation (Bishop and Samples 1980). 



In this paper we focus on an economic framework 

 for analyzing some of the crucial elements in man- 

 aging marine recreational fisheries. In addition, 

 findings are presented which provide an empirical 

 basis for valuing fishing trips and fishing success 

 to marine anglers targeting on three Atlantic coast 

 species: bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix; summer 

 flounder, Paralichthys dentatus; and weakfish, 

 Cynosdon regalis. 



THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 



The management of recreational fisheries would 

 be enhanced if the value of the fishing experience 

 and the impact of fishing effort on the resource base 

 (and, hence, the future value of the fishing experi- 

 ence) were known. The former consideration in- 

 volves measurement of economic demand which, for 

 recreational fishing, can be complicated since mar- 



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