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The U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS): A Prototype User Valuation
Full text linkThe Integrated Ocean Observing System of the United States provides a large variety of oceanographic and related data at no charge through 11 Regional Associations. Since the data is distributed without price it is difficult to determine the economic value of the data. That value is useful in explaining and justifying the investment in ocean observing. This study applies discrete choice modeling to determine valuation of the data for users of data through the RA websites. The study found annual values of 220 million, and these estimates are considered highly conservative. A guide for replication of the valuation study is included
The Economic Value of Sea Otters and Recreational Tourism in a California Estuary
Full text linkThe recovery of marine megafauna can lead to improved ecosystem function and services, but not all stakeholders may benefit equally. Quantifying the local economic value of a species’ presence may appeal to broader range of stakeholders when developing conservation strategies. This study aims to examine the economic effect recreational activities can have on a local region, and to determine what role the presence of southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) had on the value visitors placed on the visit and the area’s preservation. We surveyed visitors to Elkhorn Slough, a small estuary in California known for diverse wildlife, modeled direct and indirect economic contributions to local economics, and evaluated perceptions and value placed on the area and wildlife. Annually, visitors contributed approximately 1.85 million in indirect economic gains, which could support over 300 full-time, part-time, and seasonal jobs to the region. Whether sea otters were observed during a trip influenced how visitors ranked their importance, and the perceived value of the estuary and sea otters. Combined, this study quantified what recreational visitors could contribute to local economies and that sea otters play a role in what visitor’s value about their visit. These results provide additional support to the benefits of species presence at a local scale. We discuss how these types of studies can be used as part of larger species and ecosystem management plans, particularly considering species recovery and range expansion
The Economic Impacts of the Maine Seafood Sector
Full text linkThe Center for the Blue Economy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies recently prepared a report for the Seafood Economic Accelerator for Maine, along with collaborators from the Maine Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Southern Maine.
The analysis utilizes the best available data from the Maine Departments of Marine Resources and Labor together with the IMPLAN economic model to estimate the total (direct, indirect, and induced) economic impacts of the commercial seafood sector and core value chain components on the state of Maine and substate regions. The report is intended to serve as a baseline indicator from which to compare impacts in future years, as well as to evaluate the impact of specific investments or initiatives on the growth of the sector over time. The major findings of the analysis are: The seafood sector contributed over 692 million), lobster harvesting (343 million) were the largest contributing industries to total economic output. The sector supported over 33,300 jobs statewide in 2019, 23,846 of which were employed directly in sector industries and another 7,300 additional jobs supported from other indirect and induced multiplier effects. Harvesting including lobster, non-lobster species and aquaculture is the largest employing part of the seafood sector supporting over 12,700 jobs, followed by retail seafood outlets, including restaurants (8,550). Total direct and multiplier effects jobs in seafood estimated here makes the seafood sector the largest natural resource-based sector in the Maine economy. Employment supported 967 million of which were from direct employment in the value chain industries and another 393 million), retail (155 million). The seafood sector supported an estimated 91 million in local and 248 million in federal tax revenues were also supported. Regionally, the seafood sector in the Downeast region accounted for 45 percent of all direct jobs (and 47.4% of total impact jobs) and supported 260 million in labor income in 2019 in the Midcoast region. The sources of economic impacts from the seafood sector are concentrated in lobster harvesting and retail for the region, with aquaculture comprising a smaller but growing sources of jobs and income in the region. In Southern Maine, the seafood sector supported over 7,600 jobs and $370 million in labor income — slightly less than Downeast. The bulk of direct jobs were supported by the retail industry sector (over 4,000), while harvesting (all species wild caught) supported roughly 1,240 jobs. The seafood sector’s total economic impact is a much larger share of the Downeast region, accounting for almost 20% of employment than the sector comprises of Midcoast or Southern economies.
It is important to emphasize that the estimates in this report are likely to be underestimates. A large number of aquaculture operations are not incorporated in the data, only retail outlets (markets and restaurants) requiring a DMR license are included, and marine recreational fishing has been excluded entirely.
The study focused on a single year of data: 2019. This is because of the substantial amount of customized data construction that was done to measure the economy of the seafood sector which had to be developed. The year 2019 was selected to avoid using data from a year affected by the Covid pandemic. But understanding the effects of the pandemic is still important.
For that purpose, employment data from the Department of Labor were analyzed and preliminary findings show that seafood markets have grown in employment since 2019, with little interruption from the pandemic
Understanding Comprehensive Flood Risk with NOAA Data
Full text linkThe Beyond Floods app features a flood outlook score and detailed reports for each individual property. This score is an abstraction of more than 25 factors related to real estate, social perception, flood insurance, flood mitigation and losses, infrastructure, and geomorphology. Syndeste used data from NOAA’s digital elevation models and the New York City Panel on Climate Change sea level rise projections that NOAA published in its GeoPlatform for this effort. The Coastal Flood Loss Atlas (developed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, derived from NOAA SLOSH models) and NOAA’s New York City 2050 flood risk scenario floodplains information were also used to further improve Beyond Floods’ flood outlook score and risk advisory capabilities
Benefit-Cost Analysis of Green Infrastructure Investments: Application to Small Urban Projects in Hinesville, GA
Full text linkSmall scale urban green infrastructure projects can provide local ecological services that should be accounted for in project assessment. Benefits assessment can be expensive and time consuming; benefit transfer provides an economical alternative, but the quality of the analysis depends upon available data. A best-case scenario for many applications of benefit transfer is to utilize a conforming meta-analysis. In this paper, we use the meta-analysis of Bockarjova, et al. (2020) to predict ecological benefits of small scale urban green infrastructure investments in Hinesville, GA. In doing so, we implement a censoring procedure on the benefit transfer function to permit analysis of small-scale (less than one-hectare) projects. We find evidence of substantial net economic benefits, with estimates ranging from 5.5 million; positive benefit-to-cost ratios are robust to substantial cost increases (4 times the estimated costs). We provide guidance for how to apply these methods to other contexts
CBE Waves Newsletter: August 2022
Full text linkThe Summer 2022 Center for the Blue Economy Waves Newsletter includes the following articles: A How To Guide for Creating Ocean GDP Accounts for NON-Economists The hidden landscape: Maritime cultural heritage of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges with implications for conservation on the high seas Introducing the 2022 Center for the Blue Economy Summer Fellows Virtual Reality to the Rescue--two new climate change applications Celebrating the Biden-Harris Whole-of-Government Ocean Climate Action Plan Celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act--biggest spending on climate change in US history Student and alumni profiles Out of the Arctic podcast created by IEP MIIS student /CBE Senior Fellow Announcing the CBE Environmental Justice & Sustainability Speaker Serie
Blue Growth: A Transitions Approach to Developing Sustainable Pathways
Full text linkThe sustainable management of Blue Growth is an urgent issue for coastal states. Marine industries have rapidly expanded over the last two decades and this is projected to continue with the European Green Deal and post-COVID economic recovery policies. The intensification of Blue Growth could have adverse socio-ecological implications and must, therefore, be managed in terms of sustainability, natural resource boundaries, and coastal community well-being. Managing Blue Growth in a sustainable manner however, is challenging due to the longstanding inefficiencies and inertia of existing marine governance regimes. Adopting a transitions approach has been advanced as a way of steering regime change so that it is not inhibited by these persistent problems. This paper reports on four case studies that adopt transitions thinking and use the multi-level perspective as a broad analytical framework through which to understand institutional dynamics, drivers and responses within core marine sectors. Our case studies analysis reveals several significant pressures for regime change within key marine sectors. These pressures need to be addressed through the adoption of a transition management approach. By adopting this approach and engaging key stakeholders, national and EU marine governance authorities can develop sustainable Blue Growth pathways that minimize the impact of continued growth on communities and the marine environment, maximizing the implementation of sustainable practices and addressing issues such as biodiversity loss and climate change
Impact Assessment Modelling for the Ocean Economy: A Review of Developments
Full text linkWith increasing attention being paid to the role of marine related activity in promoting sustainable economic growth as well as development in coastal areas, it is important to be able to model the impact of policy decisions in this area in an ex-ante fashion. This paper provides an overview of an Economic, Social, Spatial and Environmental (ESSE) framework developed for impact assessment of ocean related industries. The modelling approach is applied to the ocean economy of Ireland and combines proven methodologies, namely input-output modelling and microsimulation, in order to assess multi-dimensional impacts. The capabilities of the ESSE modelling framework are highlighted using policy development examples from marine renewable energy, aquaculture and fisheries
Measuring the contribution of the ocean: A comparison of the statistical classification of the marine economy used by China and Canada
Full text linkMost of the major marine countries share an identical knowledge about marine economy. Ocean-related principle is the primary principles which distinguish the ocean economy from national economy and other economies. The understandings of marine economy from various countries all take into consideration the ocean-relativeness character geographically or industrially. However, there are certain differences in statistical frameworks and specific industrial classifications. In this paper, the statistical classification of marine economy between China and Canada is comparatively studied from the perspectives of the connotation of marine economy, the classification of regional statistics, and the classification of industrial statistics. Moreover, the identification of the statistical calibers of the two countries’ marine economy is further analyzed. This allows for a comparison of the statistical data between the two countries’ marine economy. Several suggestions on enforcing the statistical work for the marine economy are proposed in the end
Riders on the Storm: Hurricane Risk and Coastal Insurance and Mitigation Decisions
Full text linkThis paper utilizes cross-sectional, household-level, survey data combined with data on subjective risk perceptions and experimentally derived risk preferences to analyze the decision to insure against hurricane losses. Our sample encompasses 670 individuals in five states of the United States Gulf Coast Region (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida). This study represents one of the few papers to examine wind insurance empirically and the only study to examine flood insurance, wind insurance, and mitigation behavior contemporaneously. Because these decisions are closely related, we employ a mixed-process regression, which allows for correlated error terms across a random-effects bivariate probit model (flood/wind insurance) and a Poisson Log-Normal count model (mitigation). Results indicate positive and statistically significant correlations between the error terms of the insurance and mitigation models but no significant correlation between the error terms of the two insurance models, conditioned on the covariates. We find evidence that risk perceptions and other household factors have some influence on storm risk management, but the strongest effects tend to be related to mandatory insurance requirements associated with location in high-hazard areas