This appears to be the best available information on the Florida Keys trop- 

 ical specimen industry to date although admittedly it is not a definitive 

 study. 



Both the following economic discussion and the Environmental Consequen- 

 ces Chapter 4 analysis of proposed tropical specimen collecting regulations 

 are based largely on this draft study and personal interviews with tropical 

 specimen collectors at Looe Key and in the Florida Keys as part of the Onsite 

 Survey. 



Areas of heavy boating traffic and dense coral relief of the reef struc- 

 ture, such as the Looe Key Fore Reef area are not generally considered suitable 

 as collecting areas for tropical fish and invertebrates (Causey, personal com- 

 munication, 1979). Boats carrying tourists and local residents can easily 

 foul and disconnect lines leading to submerged collectors and their equipment. 

 Dense coral structures offer multiple hiding places for desirable tropical 

 fish species. 



The Onsite Survey revealed that some collecting occurred in the Looe Key 

 area. There are six full-time and two part-time collectors in the general 

 area. Their annual income varies considerably, depending on their expertise, 

 the amount and type of work they perform and changeable environmental condi- 

 tions. Full time tropical specimen collectors fall into two categories; those 

 who sell to wholesalers located along the Keys or large wholesale outlets in 

 Miami, and those who not only collect specimens but package and ship the organisms 

 directly to customers. The latter group's income falls within the higher estimated 

 range of income for collectors (Causey, personal communication, 1979). 



Income estimates based on best available but very preliminary information 

 set the overall value of tropical fish and invertebrate collecting in the 

 vicinity of Looe Key at between $105,000 and $175,000. Collecting activities 

 inside the 5 sq nm boundary, according to the Onsite Survey, appear to amount 

 to less than 25 percent of the total collecting. There is some reported activity 

 among the rocky ledges of the Patch Reef zone, but minimal commercial activity 

 in the Fore Reef and Reef Flat zones. Occasional amateur collecting, however, 

 has been observed throughout the five mile area. 



Thus the estimated range of income generated within the 5 sq nm proposed 

 sanctuary area is between $25,000 and $43,000. The regional multiplier would 

 increase these amounts to between $80,045 and $137,729. 



4. Private Recreational Users 



Commercial recreational questionnaires from the Onsite Survey estimated 

 that the average number of daily private boat visits to the proposed Looe Key 

 5 sq nm sanctuary ranged between a low of 11 and a high of 23 in 1978. If 

 these estimates are correct, then -- assuming 300 days of clear weather -- 

 there were somewhere between 3,564 and 7,008 private boat visits to the reef 

 last year. According to the Onsite Survey, 2,346 to 4,672 of these boats 

 carried an estimated 9,694 to 19,061 divers to Looe Key reef in addition to 

 the 4,500 from commercially chartered dive boats. 



63 



