Digital Commons@Center for the Blue Economy
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Hurricane Damage to the Ocean
Full text linkIn 2005, insured losses from hurricanes and other catastrophes were greater than in any other year in U.S. history. NOAA’s National Hurricane Center estimates that 7.7 billion in wages. (See table 1.) The affected States accounted for 13 percent of employment and wages in the U.S. ocean economy
Identifying Economic Indicators for Ecosystem-Based Management:
Full text linkIn America and across the world, the use of ecosystem-based management is
increasing. One of the primary challenges faced in using this method of management is the integration of economic data and environmental information. This report explores the use of a new tool for integrating economic data, ecosystem-based economic indicators, in a case study of Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, an estuarine environment located in Monterey County, CA. Research and literature reviews were used to detail the economic activities of the area, in order to identify possible indicators,criteria for evaluating the indicators, and potential sources of indicator data. After evaluating ten candidate datasets, four datasets were collected: 1) the cost of dredging the slough to Moss Landing Harbor, 2) the volume of dredged material removed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, 3) the weight of fish landed by commercial fishers in the Moss Landing area, and 4) the number commercial passenger fishing vessel participants. These datasets were used to establish a baseline of relevant economic activity and to explore trends in these economic activities over time. The economic indicators were then compared with ecological indicators from similar time periods. The comparisons were used to assess whether changes in economic activity could be correlated to changes in ecological conditions. Visual observation revealed possible links between 1) the average annual turbidity and volume of dredged material removed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, 2) annual maximum turbidity value and the cost of dredging to Moss Landing Harbor, 3) the annual frequency of hypoxic conditions and the weight of fish landed by commercial fishers in the Moss Landing area, and 4) the annual frequency of hypoxic conditions and the number of commercial passenger fishing vessel participants. Although preliminary in nature, conclusions indicate that ecosystem-based economic indicators will help the managers of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve to establish baselines of economic activity and to predict changes in this activity as a result of an ecological policy change
CALIFORNIA’S OCEAN ECONOMY
Full text linkCalifornia’s Ocean Economy is the most expansive study of its kind in the nation and provides an update to the 1994 economic study conducted by the California Research Bureau and later released as part of the Resources Agency ocean strategy titled, California’s Ocean Resources: An Agenda for the Future. This report from the National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) provides a more comprehensive understanding of the economic role of California’s ocean resources than has been available to date. It also provides California with strong evidence that its unique ocean and coastal resources are important to sustaining California’s economy. This information highlights the economic importance of the ocean and coast to California and the nation and underscores the need for continued leadership in balancing resource protection and economic development
Measurement of the Ocean and Coastal Economy: Theory and Methods
Full text linkThis paper supplements reports and data released on the coastal and ocean economy of the United States by the National Ocean Economics Project. It provides a discussion of the relevant literature involved in the investigation of the ocean and coastal related economy, the theoretical background of measures such as gross domestic and gross state product, and provides details on sources, methods, assumptions, and limitations of the data provided by NOEP
DEVELOPING BETTER ECONOMIC INFORMATION ABOUT COASTAL RESOURCES AS A TOOL FOR INTEGRATED COASTAL MANAGEMENT
Full text linkMeasuring economic activity associated with the ocean through examination of the goods and services produced by specified industries and in coastal locations will provide answers to many of the most commonly asked questions about the ocean economy. But even this data will still be incomplete. Beyond are a variety of non-market values, which are needed to complete the picture. When someone goes to the beach in Florida or boats on Chesapeake Bay, there may be little that is directly purchased on that day. But the popularity of such activities is testament to their underlying value. Economists have developed a variety of techniques to measure such values, and a large number of studies have been done throughout the country using these techniques. The Project intends to compile the results of these studies into the ocean economy database to provide researchers with access to the information that has been generated.
The resulting integrated, web-accessible database will provide as comprehensive a picture as possible of the economic values associated with the ocean. It will provide historical data, and because it is estimated as much as possible on a consistent basis, it can be used to compare these values across time and space. But there will still be important limitations. Requirements to maintain confidentiality of data will require that many smaller geographic areas cannot be described in the same level of detail as larger regions. The surveys of industries conducted by the Census Bureau that underlie the national data and which will be used to disaggregate to the industrial and geographic level will have sampling limitations that will require some indirect estimating techniques. The nonmarket values are estimated using complex techniques that can result in widely varying figures for the same resources
Estimating the Economic Value of the Ocean in a National Income Accounting Framework
Full text linkA key part of the effort to estimate the economic value of the ocean is to develop estimates of the appropriate values of the goods and services traded in the market economy. Such estimates should include the output of industries associated with the ocean, as well as other measures of economic activity, including income generated, employment, the number of firms, etc. Providing the information that permits seeing the economy of the ocean within the context of other economic activity requires preparing estimates that are consistent with the National Income and Product
Accounts (NIPA). The key component is Gross Product Originating (GPO) of each industry that uses the ocean and its resources.1 This paper discusses the issues involved in preparing such estimates and presents some preliminary findings based on 1997 figures. Future working papers will describe refinements of this data based on more detailed data, and the extension of these estimates to the regional level and the creation of a historical data series. When complete, comparisons will be possible over time and across industries and regions