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estuarine system lie not in the measure of economic value for any par- 

 ticular use, but in multiplicity of use related to the needs of people who 

 live there or otherwise depend on the estuarine resource. 



FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT 



The value of the estuarine zone as fish and wildlife habitat both 

 depends on and augments its value for other uses, particularly recrea- 

 tion and commercial fishing. 



There is, in addition to these, the basic incalculable value of the 

 estuarine habitat as a link in the essential energy-conversion chain 

 which permits man to survive at all. 



The trapping of fur bearers in the marshes of the gulf and Atlantic 

 represents one of the few economic values directly attributable to 

 estuarine habitat. Louisiana is the major producer; in the 1965-66 

 season total sales were $4.6 million out of the Nation's $6 million total. 



Commercial fishing 



An entire complex of commerce and industry can rest upon one 

 primary producing industry such as commercial fishing. Each time 

 the basic product changes hands it generates economic activity and 

 gains in value until by the time it reaches the ultimate consumer, its 

 price may be many times what the fisherman was paid for it. The 

 effect of such "value multiplier" factors will be such as to make the 

 actual values of specific commercial fisheries several times the landed 

 values. 



Thus, the $438 million received by U.S. fishermen in 1967 probably 

 represents a total input to estuarine zone economic activity of over 

 $1 billion ; exactly how much it is impossible to say. Case studies assign 

 multiplier values of about three and four to commercial fishery land- 

 ing values, but the magnitudes of such multipliers depend on the 

 structure of the local economy as well as on other factors and generali- 

 ties are likely to be misleading. 



The relationship of the estuarine zone and commercial fishing cannot 

 be expressed by any simple economic index. The importance of com- 

 mercial fishing in the estuarine zone is related economically not only 

 to estuarine habitat, but also to transportation, commerce, food 

 processing, and aquaculture. 



Recreation 



Each kind of recreational use has its own economic impact. Recrea- 

 tional boating supports a large boatbuilding, marina, and boat repair 

 industry. Sport fishing supports not only a certain part of the boating 

 industries, but also a very specialized industry manufacturing and sell- 

 ing fishing tackle. For example, the 1965 survey of fishing and hunting 

 shows that salt water anglers spent $800 million in that year. Sight- 

 seeing and swimming support motel and restaurant services in the 

 favored areas, as do other overnight recreational activities. 



Attempts at the quantification of overall recreational economic 

 values are not yet well developed. The user-day recreation benefits 

 approach has been used in some Federal waterway and reservoir proj- 

 ects, but has been used in the estuarine system only in an analysis of 

 fisheries and recreation in San Francisco Bay. Net benefits for general 



