California's Ocean Economy - California Resources Agency - State ...

NOEP
Executive Summary
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.
Summary of Findings
California - Largest Ocean Economy in the Nation
California has the largest Ocean Economy in the United States, ranking number one overall
for both employment and gross state product (GSP), an impressive position, because
California was the 5 th largest economy in the world in 2000. 1 The sectors of the Ocean
Economy studied include: (1) coastal construction, (2) living resources, (3) offshore minerals,
(4) ship and boat building and repair, (5) maritime transportation and ports, and (6) coastal
tourism and recreation. The total GSP of California’s Ocean Economy in 2000 was
approximately $42.9 billion. California’s Ocean Economy directly provided approximately
408,000 jobs in 2000, and almost 700,000 jobs when multiplier effects are included. It
provided more than $11.4 billion in wages and salaries in 2000, and more than $24 billion
when multiplier effects are included. The NOEP also evaluated the total value of all
economic transactions within 19 coastal counties (mainland coast and four additional
counties added within San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River Delta) and identified
approximately $ 1.15 trillion of economic activity, 2 (86% of total state economic activity),
that is referred to as the “Coastal Economy.” The natural resources of the coast and coastal
ocean are a solid foundation for California’s economy and these resources must be sustained
to maintain the strength in the six sectors evaluated within the Ocean Economy and the
much larger Coastal Economy.
California’s Ocean Economy: Comparisons with the Nation
California provides a larger share of the national Ocean Economy than any other state.
Overall, California made up nearly 19% of the US Ocean Economy in 2000 in both
employment and GSP. A major reason for this was the increase in the Tourism &
Recreation sector and the strength of the Transportation sector. California’s Marine
Transportation sector is more than a quarter of the national Marine Transportation sector
with the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles among the largest in the nation.
1 2001 California Society of Certified Public Accountants, Gale Group.
2 County shares of GSP computed as county share of wages from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages applied to the
estimate of GSP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
1