Economic Impact of a Recreational Striped Bass Fishery

Abstract

AbstractStriped Bass Morone saxatilis are stocked in numerous southeastern U.S. reservoirs to enhance angling opportunities. Many of these reservoirs are near rural communities, where expenditures by anglers provide economic benefits. This study estimated the value of the recreational Striped Bass fishery at Lewis Smith Lake, Alabama, to the local counties surrounding the lake and the state of Alabama using surveys that collected information on angler expenditures; further, we calculated generated tax revenues and estimated the demand and consumer surplus for the fishery. Annual Striped Bass angler effort represented 23% of the total effort with 53,000 h (SE, 3,800 h) or approximately 10,200 trips. Catch and harvest effort for Striped Bass anglers was 0.40 fish/h and 0.18 fish/h, respectively. Annual aggregated expenditures by Striped Bass anglers were US$0.7 million, with 84% of expenditures occurring within the local counties. A cost‐benefit analysis determined that for every $1 spent in stocking costs, $2 were generated in taxes for local county road maintenance, education, and general funds and $7 were generated for statewide tax‐funded programs; thus, Striped Bass stocking costs were justified through the increase in resulting angler expenditures. A count model using a negative binomial distribution was used to estimate demand. Demand estimation showed that an increase in travel cost to the site and an increase in party size decreased the number of visits an angler would make to fish for Striped Bass at Lewis Smith Lake. Consumer surplus was estimated to be $0.6 million for the Striped Bass fishery and $77 per angler visit. In conclusion, this work has shown that the economic impact assessment for a fishery should be taken into account when total fishery management plans are being evaluated.Received January 26, 2013; accepted November 4, 2013