These figures are much higher than those reported by the Texas Department of Water Resources. 
In 1976, sport fishing expenditures in the Galveston estuary were reported to be nearly $8 million 
(in 1986 dollars) or about 9 percent of total sport fishing expenditures coastwide (7) (Table 3.8). 
Recreation and Tourism 
Galveston Bay is used for other recreational activities besides sport fishing by residents in 
adjacent counties and tourists attracted to the region for business and/or pleasure. These activities 
include pleasure boating, hunting, swimming, camping, picnicking and sightseeing among others. 
For these activities, use data are either not available at all or not available specific to Galveston Bay. 
However, it is possible to approximate the extent of pleasure boating activity through boat regis¬ 
trations and data on boating facilities. 
In 1986, there were 103,562 motorboats registered in four adjacent counties. This is 71 percent of 
the total number of pleasure craft registered in Texas coastal counties, or 24 percent of the motorboats 
registered statewide (8). Likewise, 38 (46 percent) of the boat ramps administered by the Texas Parks 
and Wildlife Department on the Texas coast are located in the four counties. This constitutes 27 
percent of their boat ramps statewide (8). Between 1976 and 1987, the number of marinas in 
Galveston Bay more than doubled from 18 to 40, while the number of wet slips grew three-fold from 
3066 to 9171 (9). In terms of Galveston Bay's importance to recreational boating in Texas today, 
Galveston Bay accounts for 30 percent of the total number of marinas on the Texas coast and 63 
percent of the total wet slips in commercial marinas. This has grown from a 1976 figure of 27 percent 
of total marinas and 56 percent of coastal wet slips (Table 3.9). 
Visitors participating in sport fishing and other recreational activities (hunting, picnicking, 
swimming, camping, pleasure boating and sightseeing) in the six estuaries on the Texas coast spent 
approximately $586 million during 1986 (6). Of this total, $364 million (62 percent) was spent by sport 
fishermen. Direct expenditures for "other recreation activities" in the Galveston Bay complex were 
$122.4 million, 55 percent of the total expenditures for this category for all bay systems on the Texas 
coast (Table 3.10). Gross Texas business resulting from tourism and recreational uses of the Galveston 
Bay complex amounted to $425.2 million. Gross personal income in Texas attributed to "other 
recreational activities" in the Galveston Bay complex and supporting sectors was estimated at $113.3 
million, state taxes at $5.7 million and taxes paid to local governments statewide at $10.1 million. 
Comparisons with data collected by the Texas Department of Water Resources (7) are not possible 
since the "other recreation" category was not included previously. 
Petroleum, Chemicals and Other Manufacturing 
The four-county study area surrounding Galveston Bay contained 85 percent (3,989) of the 
manufacturing establishments in the 16 Texas coastal counties (1). Although there were approxi¬ 
mately one-half as many establishments in 1963 (2,221), they nevertheless constituted 78 percent of 
the total in the coastal counties at that time. In 1982, the four counties accounted for about 22 percent 
of the total number of manufacturing establishments in Texas (10). 
Despite the popular perception that petroleum is Houston's largest and most valuable industry, 
the chemical and allied products industry ranks first in the Houston area in terms of value added 
by manufacturing ($5.0 billion) (10). This constitutes about 30 percent of the total value added by 
manufacturing in the Houston-Galveston SCSA (Galveston-Texas City, TX SMSA; Houston, TX 
SMS A). There are 301 establishments in the area with a total of 36,100 employees and a payroll of $1.1 
billion. The vast majority (89 percent) of the establishments in the four-county area are located in 
Harris County. 
Nearly one-half of the total chemical production in the U.S. takes place in the Houston area. More 
than 500 chemicals are produced there, including 55 percent and 34 percent of the total polypropylene 
and polyethylene production, respectively, in the U.S. Furthermore, 46 percent of the total U.S. 
production of ethylene and propylene takes place in Houston (11). 
Thirty percent of the U.S. petroleum industry is located in the area adjacent to the Galveston Bay 
complex (12). In the Houston area the petroleum and coal products industry ranks third in terms of 
value added by manufacturing ($2.2 billion) (10). This is about 13 percent of the total value added by 
manufacturing in the Houston-Galveston SCSA. There are 69 establishments in the SCSA with a total 
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