Session C7- Conserving America’s Fisheries: An Assessment of the Economic Contributions from Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation
Location
UMass Amherst
Start Date
29-6-2011 10:20 AM
End Date
29-6-2011 10:40 AM
Description
In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) completed its strategic vision document: “Conserving America’s Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fisheries Program Vision for the Future.” The Vision includes goals, objective, and action items on a national programmatic scale. The National Fisheries Program Strategic Plan was developed from this document, providing strategies to implement the Vision’s goals and objectives for fisheries and aquatic resource conservation. The biological and ecological impacts of the implemented policies and programs, in turn, can have a significant economic effect on society. This study develops a reconnaissance-level estimate of the annual economic contributions attributable to five focus areas (aquatic habitat conservation and management; aquatic species conservation and management; public use; cooperation with Native Americans; and leadership in science and technology) detailed in the National Fisheries Program Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004-2008. The multi-faceted nature of the Program requires different economic approaches. These approaches may include willingness-to-pay (consumer surplus), economic impacts (consumer expenditures, jobs, income), cost avoidance and substitution costs. Given the number and national scope of the policies and projects being evaluated, primary, site specific studies were generally unavailable. Consequently, a method known as benefits transfer was used, where results from existing studies were used to approximate the economic contributions of FWS projects. Consumer surplus estimates of aquatic species conservation programs totaled $456 million, economic output measures of aquatic habitat conservation, invasive species management, subsistence fisheries, and public use are estimated at S3.6 billion. The total number of jobs affected is estimated at 68,000 (all figures are annual).
Session C7- Conserving America’s Fisheries: An Assessment of the Economic Contributions from Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation
UMass Amherst
In 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) completed its strategic vision document: “Conserving America’s Fisheries, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fisheries Program Vision for the Future.” The Vision includes goals, objective, and action items on a national programmatic scale. The National Fisheries Program Strategic Plan was developed from this document, providing strategies to implement the Vision’s goals and objectives for fisheries and aquatic resource conservation. The biological and ecological impacts of the implemented policies and programs, in turn, can have a significant economic effect on society. This study develops a reconnaissance-level estimate of the annual economic contributions attributable to five focus areas (aquatic habitat conservation and management; aquatic species conservation and management; public use; cooperation with Native Americans; and leadership in science and technology) detailed in the National Fisheries Program Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004-2008. The multi-faceted nature of the Program requires different economic approaches. These approaches may include willingness-to-pay (consumer surplus), economic impacts (consumer expenditures, jobs, income), cost avoidance and substitution costs. Given the number and national scope of the policies and projects being evaluated, primary, site specific studies were generally unavailable. Consequently, a method known as benefits transfer was used, where results from existing studies were used to approximate the economic contributions of FWS projects. Consumer surplus estimates of aquatic species conservation programs totaled $456 million, economic output measures of aquatic habitat conservation, invasive species management, subsistence fisheries, and public use are estimated at S3.6 billion. The total number of jobs affected is estimated at 68,000 (all figures are annual).
Comments
James Caudill is a Senior Economist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Arlington Virginia. He obtained a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University in 1992. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest as a Forest Economist from 1990 to 1994. He joined the Division of Economics, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service in 1994. Some examples of current and past projects: estimating the economic effects associated with National Fish Hatchery production and distribution; estimating the economic value and impacts associated with both recreational and non-recreational use of National Wildlife Refuges; the use of public lands as an economic stimulus in low income areas, hydropower relicensing, and the estimation of outdoor recreation expenditures and economic impacts.