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)
AFS Annual Meeting, Lake Placid, NY, Sept. 10-14, 2006
*MARFIN #NA06NMF4330055
Targeting behavior Compare various
angler targeting models
• single-species• aggregates of related
species• all species combined
Our research will consider:
Our research will consider:
Species substitutionEstimate angler willingness to
substitute to other species or species groups when fishing quality or fishing management changes
Our research will:
Estimate how willingness to substitute species might differ by angler typesocioeconomic factorspreferencesgear type (i.e., mode)
Our research will:
Provide species-specific estimates of economic value for: changes in fishing
quality management (e.g.,
size limits, bag limits)
To date:
We have identified the feasibility of demand modeling at the species level
Estimated a prototype single species demand model
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%), delete missing values on key variables n = 18,709
Targets a species n=11,257
Fishing mode
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Shore
Party/Charter
Private/Rental
State of intercept
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
LA
MS
AL
FL (G)
FL (SA)
GA
SC
NC
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
Top 5 target species of interest
Spotted seatrout 23%
Red drum 20%
Dolphin 6%
King mackerel 6%
Spanish mackerel 4%
Species groups
Big game 4%
Bottom fish 4%
Flat fish 5%
Small game 11%
Snapper - grouper 15%
Target BehaviorAny Species Dolphin
sign p-value sign p-value
Intercept + p < .01 - p < .01
Years fished + p < .01 - p < .01
Boat owner + p < .01 +
Shore mode - p < .01
Charter mode - p < .01 + p < .01
Days fished + p < .01 - p < .01
Wave 4 - - p < .01
Wave 5 + p < .01 - p < .01
Wave 6 + p < .01 - p < .01
Gulf - p < .01 - p < .01
Random Utility Models
Conditional LogitU = X’β + e
Mixed LogitU = X’δ + ε + e
Dependent variables
Travel cost [party/charter] TC = charter fee + driving
costs + time costs [private/rental] TC = driving costs + time
costs Predicted (type 1) catch rate
Depends on 5-year historic (type 1) catch rate
Big (20” or greater) Small (less than 20”)
Historic big game catch rate Number of MRFSS interview sites in the
county
Conditional/Mixed Logit
Party/charter boatEight counties
Private/rental boat Ten counties
Conditional Logit Results
Coeff t-stat
Travel cost -0.054 -25.13
Dolphin catch > 20" 11.37 9.87
Dolphin catch < 20" 1.15 9.11
Big game catch 13.30 14.38
Log(number of sites) 0.10 1.67
Number of observations = 685Number of alternatives = 18Number of cases = 12330
Mixed Logit Results
Number of observations = 685Number of alternatives = 18Number of cases = 12330
Coeff t-stat
Travel cost -0.080 -16.45
Stand. Dev. of TC 0.035 6.33
Dolphin catch > 20" 8.91 5.15
Dolphin catch < 20" 1.21 5.09
Big game catch 9.00 12.49
Log(number of sites) 0.036 0.47
Economic value of one fish per trip
Conditional Mixed
Big (> 20”) 209.78 110.82
Big + 1 sd 194.54
Big - 1 sd 77.48
Small (< 20”) 21.22 15.05
Small + 1 sd 26.42
Small - 1 sd 10.52
Policy analysis
About 1.3 million dolphin trips in east coast of FloridaThe welfare loss of new 20” size limit
is about:• $15/fish/trip • x 1.3 million trips• = $19.5m (=/- 1 sd: $33.8m, $14.3m)
These costs could be compared to the benefits …
Future work
Incorporate 1997 data Consider species substitution models for:
Dolphin King mackerel Red drum Spanish mackerel Snapper-grouper Aggregate species groups
Policy analysis: size limits, bag limits
Contact
John Whitehead
Department of Economics
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC 28608
http://www.appstate.edu/~whiteheadjc
Nested Logit
Party/charter Private/rental
Eight counties Ten counties
Nested Logit Results
Number of observations = 685Number of alternatives = 18Number of cases = 12330
Result
Travel cost OK
Dolphin catch > 20" Not stat. sig.
Dolphin catch < 20" OK
Big game catch Not stat. sig.
Log(number of sites) OK
