Abstract
This study extends recent research on informal property rights at surf breaks by exploring the process through which nature, by establishing conditions conducive (or not) to the presence of sharks, shapes the baseline level of exploitation by surfers of the common-pool resource represented by surf breaks. Since 1980, there have been nine fatal shark attacks off the coast of California, and in all nine cases the great white shark was the offending species. Given this inherent danger, the presence of large sharks mitigates, at least to some degree, the tendency toward the ‘tragedy of the commons’ in the case of surf breaks. Using data on surf break congestion, surf break quality, shark activity, and other key variables from 144 surf breaks in California, empirical results from OLS and ordered probit models presented in this study indicate that surf breaks in California that are associated with the highest levels of shark activity tend to be less congested, perhaps by as much as 28%, than their counterparts that are visited less often by sharks.
Highlights
United States laws, which allow for open access of the ocean coast up to the high-tide mark [1], have contributed to the popularity of seaside recreational activities in states with long ocean coastlines
Prior research indicates that surfing provides both direct and indirect benefits in the form of consumer surplus to surfers, tourism revenue, and even higher prices of residential real estate properties situated in close proximity to surf breaks
Other studies have shown that the open-access nature of a surf break creates the unpleasant side-effect of congestion, as surfers crowd or over-exploit the common-pool resource represented by the surf break
Summary
United States laws, which allow for open access of the ocean coast up to the high-tide mark [1], have contributed to the popularity of seaside recreational activities in states with long ocean coastlines. As Kaffine indicates [1], the open-access nature of a surf break creates the unpleasant side-effect of congestion, as surfers crowd the surf break in hopes of “harnessing the energy of a wave and experiencing the exhilaration of sliding down its rushing face” [2]. This study extends previous research on informal property rights at surf breaks by Kaffine, Mixon, and Mixon and Caudill [1,5,6,7] by exploring the heretofore unexplored process through which nature, by establishing conditions conducive (or not) to the presence of sharks, shapes the exploitation by surfers of the common-pool resource represented by surf breaks.
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