Demand for Recreational Fishing in the Long Island Sound: A Generalized Demand Approach

Abstract

Recreational fishing in Long Island Sound has been thriving since 1998 and the proportion of recreational and sports fishing has steadily increased over two decades. It interrelates with the regional tourism and recreational sectors as well as its integration of sustainable coastal development with the greater economy. Given the significance of recreational fishing in the area’s economy, a generalized demand model is used to examine the demand for recreational fishing in the Long Island Sound. The model provides local policy makers with useful information on the sensitivity of fishing demand to changes in relative prices, and fishing in neighboring areas. Exact welfare variation measures are calculated for changes in price across the study areas. Results suggest that overall angler trips in the study areas are found to be own-price-inelastic, and only angler trips in NJ and RI are sensitive to the own-price change. Findings also suggest the average welfare jump by 9% due to an increase of 10% in the price of study areas.