Tim Haab (Ohio State University) Rob Hicks (College of William and Mary)

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 Red snapper Aggregate species groups

Policy analysis: size limits, bag limits

Contact

John Whitehead

Department of Economics

Appalachian State University

Boone, NC 28608

[email protected]

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