Recreational Values of Gulf Grouper

1. Recreational Values of Gulf Grouper John Whitehead, Appalachian State University Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Socioeconomic Panel Miami, Florida Thursday May 3, 2007

2. “Outline” • An overview of the MARFIN project • Decisions made to date about MRFSS data • Progress report / future effort • Preliminary results from the Gulf of Mexico reef fish model

3. Angler Heterogeneity and Species-Specific Demand for Recreational Fishing in the Southeast United States* Tim Haab (Ohio State University) Rob Hicks (College of William and Mary) Kurt Schnier (University of Rhode Island) John Whitehead (Appalachian State University) *MARFIN #NA06NMF4330055

4. Previous NMFS/MRFSS Recreational Valuation Research • McConnell and Strand, 1994 • Hicks, Steinbeck, Gautam, Thunberg, 1999 • Haab, Whitehead, and Ted McConnell, 2000 • Haab, Hicks, Whitehead, 2004

5. We are considering: • Targeting behavior • Compare various angler targeting models • single-species • aggregates of related species • all species combined

6. We are considering: • Species substitution • Estimate angler willingness to substitute to other species or species groups when fishing quality or fishing management changes

7. We will: • Estimate how willingness to substitute species might differ by angler type • socioeconomic factors • preferences • gear type (i.e., mode)

8. We will: • Provide species-specific estimates of economic value for: • changes in fishing quality • management (e.g., size limits, bag limits)

9. To date: • We have identified the feasibility of demand modeling at the species level • Estimated two preliminary demand models

10. MRFSS 2000 • LA to NC • n = 70,781 • Southeast 2000 (Limited Valuation Round) • n = 42,079 • Hook and line trips only (99%), day trips only (67%) [self-reported and < 200 miles one-way distance], delete missing values on key variables • n = 18,709 +/- • Targets a species • n=11,257 +/-

11. Fishing mode

12. State of intercept

13. Species • 425 unique species caught by recreational anglers sampled by the MRFSS • 15 species account for 82% of the targeting activity and 38% of the (type 1) catch

14. Target Behavior (Prim1)

15. Traditional species groups

16. Top target species of interest from RFP

17. Four demand models are being pursued • Florida Atlantic Big Game • Dolphin • Big game fish • Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish • “Snappers” • Shallow water groupers • Red snapper

18. Four demand models … • Inshore small game: Red drum, spotted seatrout, small game • Offshore small game: King mackerel, spanish mackerel, small game

19. GOM Reef Fish Intercept Sites (n = 1224)

21. Target Species

22. “Snappers” (n = 160)

23. Shallow water groupers (n = 725) Red snapper (n = 239)

24. Mode

25. Random Utility Models • Conditional Logit • Nested Logit • Mixed Logit • Latent Class Model

26. Conditional Logit Party/charter boatcounty sites Private/rental boat county sites

27. Nested Logit Party/charter Private/rental Counties Counties

28. Variables • 71 Species/Mode/Site choices • Travel cost • [party/charter] TC = charter fee + driving costs + time costs • [private/rental] TC = driving costs + time costs • Quality • 5-year historic (type 1) targeted catch rate • Predicted type 1 catch rate • Number of MRFSS interview sites in the county

29. Conditional Logit

30. Mixed Logit

31. Value of one additional fish per trip

32. Recreational value of an allocation change • $ = V x D xH • Value per fish = V • Change in harvest = D • Current harvest = H

33. Gag

34. Red Grouper

35. Contact John Whitehead Department of Economics Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 whiteheadjc@appstate.edu http://www.appstate.edu/~whiteheadjc