Phase I Florida\u27s Ocean and Coastal Economies Report

This report was prepared for and funded by the Florida State Department of Environmental Protection with the encouragement of members from the Florida Ocean Alliance, Florida Oceans and Coastal Resources Council and other groups with deep interests in the future of Florida’s coast. It is a preliminary study of Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economies based only on information currently found within the datasets of the National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP). It reflects only a portion of the value of Florida’s coastal-related economy and should not be considered comprehensive. A more customized study based on the unique coastal and ocean-dependent economic activities of the State of Florida should be carried out to complete the picture of Florida’s dependence upon its coasts. The information in this Phase I is limited to the datasets compiled by the NOEP for all Coastal and Great Lakes states (www.OceanEconomics.org). The NOEP defines two separate but overlapping categories of economic activities to measure the value of Florida’s coast to the economy: the Ocean Economy and the Coastal Economy. For example, industries for the Tourism & Recreation sector of the Ocean Economy will also be found in the supersector for leisure industries, used in the Coastal Economy. The NOEP currently uses six sectors of economic activities derived from broader categories of the National Income and Product Accounts as the foundation for the Ocean Economy: Coastal Construction, Marine Living Resources, Marine Transportation, Offshore Minerals, Ship & Boat Building and Repair, and Coastal Tourism & Recreation. All of these depend on the oceans in a direct way. The Coastal Economy represents the full range of all economic activities that occur in coastal geographies, reported as the aggregate of twelve Super-sector categories developed and reported by the Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis and the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics

Phase II Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economies Report

Phase II of Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economics Report was prepared for the Florida Oceans and Coastal Council and funded under contract #RM077 by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Phase I report of Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economies provided basic information that the NOEP compiles for all coastal states about employment, wages and output of those activities located geographically along Florida’s shoreline (Coastal Economy) as well as those activities directly dependent upon the oceans (Ocean Economy). That information not only described the status and trends of Florida’s Coastal and Ocean Economy but allowed comparison to economies in other states as well as comparisons among counties in Florida. It also provides basic data about fisheries productivity and estimates of the non-market value of coastal recreation. The Phase II report is in three volumes: this report, Phase II, Florida’s Ocean and Coastal Economies, a smaller summary version, Phase II Facts and Figures, and Phase II Appendices. Phase II expands and provides more detailed information about additional economic activities that particularly define Florida’s Ocean Economy that were not included in Phase I. These include: the passenger cruise industry, the commercial and recreational fishing, coastal real estate – the value of coastal real estate, value of tourist real estate and data on seasonal housing; marine research and education institutions, coastal construction activities including beach nourishment and dredging, and finally marine transportation and port activities. In addition, an expanded marine recreation section provides detail about the location of Florida’s coastal recreational assets, the number provides information on the number of people using them, and estimates of the value of numerous recreational activities such as boating, surfing, etc. A major study on boating and marinas is currently underway for the state of Florida by other contractors1. To provide context for the expanded descriptions of economic activities, the NOEP has also prepared an update of the Phase I report using a summary of the most recent numbers available for Florida’s Coastal and Ocean economic contributions, e.g. a summary update of the estimates from the Phase I report

The Political Economy of Oil Spill Damage Assessment: NRDA and Deepwater Horizon

The federal effort to quantify and capture non-market damages to coastal ecosystems from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Phase II of United States of America v. BP Exploration and Production, centers on the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) process. This paper makes the case that the current NRDA process has done a poor job protecting the public interest and resolving the issues surrounding oil spills from deep water drilling activities. After 5 years, the findings of the NRDA still remain sealed from both affected maritime communities and academic researchers until litigation is settled with civil and criminal fines for BP’s Clean Water Act violations and damages to coastal ecosystems. This multi-year legal process further retards progress in using the latest science to inform policy for the future of proposed off-shore oil activities, including introducing new regulations that would subject semi-submersible oil platforms to the same rigor as oil tankers. Using historical comparisons, this paper examines how the political economy of legal procedures and damage assessment processes has created winners and losers in the aftermath of DWH, especially with respect to the Vietnamese-American ethnic maritime community. Finally, proposals are suggested how the regulatory landscape, and specifically the NRDA process, might be improved to strengthen transparency, better inform policies in a timely fashion, and encompass cultural resources

The Economic Contribution of Marine Science and Education Institutions in the Monterey Bay Crescent

Ocean and coastal areas of the United States contribute significantly to our nation’s overall economy. The extent to which our economy benefits from the wide range of marine and coastal activities is not completely understood. The National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) has attempted to track and value the ocean and coastal- related economic activities in the United States. To date six sectors are included in its information system (www.oceaneconomics.org). The economic contribution of marine research and education institutions is a sector of activity that lies outside of the normal federal government datasets, but one which seemed to have growing importance and yet was not considered part of the economy. Thus, the NOEP decided to add marine science and education institutions to its sector studies. The goal of this project was to create a prototype strategy at a local level, which could then be adapted for collecting national level data on a state by state basis. This economic sector of institutions and their activities would be comparable to other economic sectors for which the federal government already collects data. The purposes of this project were (1) to select the key indicators that could demonstrate the value of these institutions, and (2) to determine the economic contribution of these institutions to the local, state, and national economies. In order to achieve these purposes, we constructed a survey, tested it at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, and then distributed it to the marine research and education institutions of Monterey Bay Crescent. The results of the survey are presented as aggregate information that detail important economic contributions to the region such as: annual budgets, employment figures, annual earned wages, number of students, sources of funding, and distribution of research spending. A summary of the results shows that the combined annual budgets of the marine research and education institutions in Monterey Bay Crescent for 2006 were over $209 million. There were over 1,700 employees within those institutions with wages totaling nearly$78 million. The four institutions of higher education included in the survey served 861 students studying ocean sciences and ocean policy. Distribution of funding sources among all institutions surveyed, according to the survey was Federal Government funds at 46% and foundation funds at 35% of the overall research budgets that support these institutions. Research activities focused on coastal processes and on biodiversity had the largest amount of funding, while climate change and marine policy research had the least funding. These results are a window into a growing sector of activities with increasing importance, and begin to fill the void of economic data on the contribution of marine research and education institutions

Arctic Economics Workshop

About this Report This report serves as the official Summary final report to participants and the public, from the Arctic Economics Workshop, sponsored by the National Science Foundation grant issued July 2017. It is a summary of participant remarks, ideas, and suggestions from the workshop. It will also be included as an addendum to our official reports to the National Science Foundation to be issued Spring, 2018. After the initial section on background and introduction, the remaining report highlights the three keynote presentations and the introductory presentation by the hosts who presented the research undertaken for the Workshop. The discussions for all of these presentations and the rest of the meeting are presented in the Summary section of this report and the section on Research Questions. The follow up recommendations appear in the final section. Background and Introduction On November 6-8, 2018, an Arctic Economics workshop funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation1 was held on the Monterey campus of The Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey, California. The workshop was convened to better understand the state of economic research about the Arctic, search for possible reasons for the relatively few publications by economists, and, throughout this meeting to find ways to encourage more research by economists about the Arctic. The workshop was organized by Dr. Judith Kildow of the Center for the Blue Economy (CBE) at MIIS and Professor Michael Goldstein of Babson College, and attended by 16 academic and government participants. The time was ripe for such a workshop. Over two years ago, researchers at The Center for the Blue Economy began to measure and describe the economy of the Arctic as part of its focus on “The Blue Economy”.2 Unfortunately, despite notable searching by their team, there was a dearth of reliable, consistent data that could be used for time-series analysis or for serious economic study. However, in April 2017, the ECONOR III 2015 Update, 3 produced with funds from the Norwegian government, and with the support of the Arctic Council, was released and provided a treasure trove of economic data. Perhaps due to the previous lack of data, a literature review showed academic economists were writing far fewer articles on the topic than non-economists such as anthropologists, lawyers, political scientists, and sociologists. The workshop was thus convened to be an exploratory examination of the status of economic research about the Arctic, particularly research done by credentialed economists as either sole authors or among interdisciplinary teams. The workshop gathered a diverse team of experts, some were focused on the Arctic, some were not; some were economists, and some were in related fields; some were academics, some were practitioners, and some were government experts, to discuss why so few economists were publishing works about the Arctic and what might be done to encourage such work

The Potential Economic Impacts of the Proposed Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary

The U.S. National Marine Sanctuary designation process is being reopened after 20 years, and coastal communities across the country are being encouraged to submit nominations. In response, there is a proposal for a new California Central Coast Marine Sanctuary, stretching from the Channel Islands to the northern tip of San Luis Obispo County. This report provides our best estimates from available and extrapolated information, of the potential economic impact on San Luis Obispo County, if this proposed National Marine Sanctuary becomes a reality. Communities seek Sanctuary designation for many reasons, including the preservation of unique cultural and natural resources, permanent prevention of offshore oil and gas development, or improving their local economies. This report focuses on the economic impacts possible from such a designation. Our results show that overall, the proposed Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary could add, at minimum 23 million dollars per year to the local economy and create almost 600 new jobs. Our estimates draw from four channels of revenue and job generation we investigated: 1. Government expenditures on Sanctuary offices, staff, and infrastructure, as well as additional research money raised by Sanctuary staff 2. Money raised by local NGOs and academics to conduct Sanctuary-related research 3. Increased coastal tourism and the increases in relevant business revenues from it (due to both market signaling and improved ocean and coastal resource stewardship) 4. Increased property values, property taxes, and business, local, state and federal tax revenues due to Sanctuary proximity It is important to note that these totals are conservative estimates and depend on the extent to which a) the Sanctuary staff aggressively market the unique natural, cultural, and historic resources as a focal point for preservation and education, b) the local tourist industry markets the Sanctuary, c) academics and NGOs seek to leverage the Sanctuary for research funding, d) the amounts of funding forthcoming from the Federal Government, and e) the extent to which Sanctuary policies lead to tangible improvements in coastal ecosystems. A byproduct of this work is an appendix with an extensive bibliography of relevant literature, which we compiled to ensure we used all available information for this report. We hope our report will serve to better inform the local community and help to determine whether the major effort required to submit a nomination for a new Sanctuary designation is in the region’s best interests

The Gap between Science and Policy: Assessing the Use of Non-market Valuation in Estuarine Management

Estuaries, which are among the most productive natural systems on earth, provide an array of human welfare benefits if well managed. Non-market valuation (NMV) is considered a powerful tool, which can contribute to informed policies for estuarine management. More than 30 year of research valuing estuaries around the world does not appear to have had a major impact on estuarine management. Published examples of policy applications using estimates from these studies, are rare, leading to the question whether the effort and money spent on this research has been useful and worth the cost. Despite raising public awareness of the importance of estuaries, NMV should play a wider and more influential role in estuarine management. Our research assumes there is a gap between economic studies and their use in policy decisions. We identify the gap, address the size of the gap, and reasons for it. Our research also seeks to understand the reasons why these values are not used more in the decision making process. In this paper, we review current literature, and report on a survey of key personnel from two US agencies, NOAA and EPA, that oversee estuaries and sanctuaries, and we will summarize their observations regarding why there is a gap. As an emerging field for many around the world, NMV is receiving increasing attention in China where estuarine resources are threatened by a multitude of human activities. We explore how and whether China can draw lessons from the US cases we have studied and what benefits China can expect from doing NMV studies and encouraging their results be used in Chinese estuarine management

The Value of Marine Institutions: An Economic Survey of Marine Research and Education Institutions in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties

It is recognized that ocean and coastal areas of the United States contribute significantly to our nation’s overall economy. What is not completely understood is the extent to and manner in which our economy benefits from the wide range of marine and coastal activities. One area of the ocean economy that has not been collectively measured or examined is the contribution of marine research and education institutions. The goal of the project was to create a prototype strategy at a local level for collecting data at a national level, in order to create an economic sector of these institutions and activities that would be equivalent to other economic sectors for which the federal government already collects data such as tourism and agriculture. The purposes of this project were (1) to select the key indicators that could demonstrate the value of these institutions, and (2) to determine the economic contribution of these institutions to the local, state and national economies. In order to achieve these purposes, I constructed a survey tested it at MBARI, and then distributed it to the marine research and education institutions of Monterey Bay Crescent as a beta test for the entire state and possibly the nation. The results of the survey are presented as aggregate information that detail important economic contributions to the region such as: employment figures, annual earned wages, annual budgets, sources of funding, and distribution of research spending. A summary of the results shows that the combined annual budgets of the marine research and education institutions in Monterey Bay Crescent is $209,496,619. There are 1,726 employees within those institutions with wages totaling more than$77,703,833. There are also 861 students. I also discovered that the federal government funds 46% and foundations 35% of the overall monies that support these institutions. Furthermore the results of this project indicate that projects with a primary focus on coastal processes and on biodiversity research have the greatest amount of funding, while climate change and marine policy have the least. The implications of these results are of great importance in filling the void of economic data and contribution of marine research and education institutions to our economy. This project, conducted in Monterey Bay Crescent, serves as a beta-test in order to improve upon a survey that may be used throughout the U.S. In order to achieve this, broader application, I considered problems and limitations that lead to possible changes in the survey

The Gap between Science and Policy: Assessing the Use of Nonmarket Valuation in Estuarine Management

Estuaries, which are among the most productive natural systems on earth, provide an array of human welfare benefits if well managed. Non-market valuation (NMV) is considered a powerful tool, which can contribute to informed policies for estuarine management. More than 30 year of research valuing estuaries around the world does not appear to have had a major impact on estuarine management. Published examples of policy applications using estimates from these studies, are rare, leading to the question whether the effort and money spent on this research has been useful and worth the cost. Despite raising public awareness of the importance of estuaries, NMV should play a wider and more influential role in estuarine management. Our research assumes there is a gap between economic studies and their use in policy decisions. We identify the gap, address the size of the gap, and reasons for it. Our research also seeks to understand the reasons why these values are not used more in the decision making process. In this paper, we review current literature, and report on a survey of key personnel from two US agencies, NOAA and EPA, that oversee estuaries and sanctuaries, and we will summarize their observations regarding why there is a gap. As an emerging field for many around the world, NMV is receiving increasing attention in China where estuarine resources are threatened by a multitude of human activities. We explore how and whether China can draw lessons from the US cases we have studied and what benefits China can expect from doing NMV studies and encouraging their results be used in Chinese estuarine management

CALIFORNIA’S OCEAN ECONOMY

California’s Ocean Economy is the most expansive study of its kind in the nation and provides an update to the 1994 economic study conducted by the California Research Bureau and later released as part of the Resources Agency ocean strategy titled, California’s Ocean Resources: An Agenda for the Future. This report from the National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) provides a more comprehensive understanding of the economic role of California’s ocean resources than has been available to date. It also provides California with strong evidence that its unique ocean and coastal resources are important to sustaining California’s economy. This information highlights the economic importance of the ocean and coast to California and the nation and underscores the need for continued leadership in balancing resource protection and economic development