11-47 



development program with adequate investments are necessary to 

 achieve optimal use of an estuary. 



M? asures o f _0 ye r a V1_V a 1 u e_a n d_ I mportance 



The discussions of values of individual uses and the case studies of 

 specific estuarine systems present a confusinq picture of the 

 relationship of estuarine uses to economic indicators. 



Estimates of the direct gross economic benefit of the estuarine zone 

 to the residents of the coastal counties can be made. The estimates 

 of economic activity generated by the presence of Narragansett Bay 

 in Rhode Island give a conservative annual economic benefit of $920 

 per capita, $420 of which is personal income. Averaqe personal income 

 for all of the coastal counties is, according to Bureau of the Census 

 figures, $500 per capita greater than the average for the remainder 

 of the country. The total economic activity generated by this addi- 

 tional personal income then amounts to about $1,100 per person, using 

 the narragansett Bay multiplier values. 



The total direct economic benefit of the estuarine zone to the 

 residents of the coastal counties is then about 60 billion dollars 

 in terms of additional economic activity stimulated by the presence 

 of estuarine systems. This is not a measure of the total economic 

 activity of the estuarine zone, but only of the "value added" to the 

 total economic activity of the coastal counties by the presence of 

 the estuarine zone. 



