Research Article

Valuing Recreational Fishing in the Great Lakes

Published: 2013-12

Journal: North American Journal of Fisheries Management

DOI: 10.1080/02755947.2013.835293

Abstract

We estimated a pair of models to characterize the demand for Great Lakes recreational fishing in Michigan. With a nested logit framework, the models tested whether anglers have an unobserved tendency to substitute between fishing sites based on target species or lake‐specific preferences. Results indicated that anglers tend to substitute more readily between sites within a lake, although we found that the choice of model did not qualitatively influence measures of nonmarket value. Both models predicted that the fishing destinations of anglers would be strongly influenced by catch rates. Using these results, we estimated the sportfishing value for several fish species and found that anglers have the highest willingness to pay for Chinook SalmonOncorhynchus tshawytscha, Coho SalmonO. kisutch, steelheadO. mykiss, and WalleyesSander vitreus. We also derived the access values of Michigan's coastal fishing sites and determined that day trips to a typical Great Lake site are worth about $30 per trip. Received March 12, 2013; accepted August 12, 2013

Faculty Members

  • Richard T. Melstrom - Department of Economics and Finance, Department of Environmental Studies Salisbury University 1101 Camden Avenue Salisbury Maryland 21801‐6860 USA
  • Frank Lupi - Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Michigan State University Agriculture Hall, 446 West Circle Drive East Lansing Michigan 48824‐1039 USA

Themes

  • Recreational fishing demand
  • Economic valuation of sportfishing
  • Catch rates influence on fishing destinations
  • Angler behavior and preferences
  • Substitution between fishing sites

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