An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century - California Ocean ...

than the combined land area of all fifty states. Millions of families depend on paychecksearned directly or indirectly from the value of the sea, including the magnetic pull of thenation’s coasts and beaches. However, our understanding of the full economic value ofthese resources is far from complete. In contrast to sectors like agriculture on which thefederal government spends more than $100 million a year for economic research, we donot make a serious effort to analyze and quantify the material contributions of our oceansand coasts. Standard government data are not designed to measure the complex oceaneconomy. They also ignore the intangible values associated with healthy ecosystems,including clean water, safe seafood, healthy habitats, and desirable living and recreationalenvironments. This lack of basic information has prevented Americans from fully understandingand appreciating the economic importanceof our oceans and coasts.To better inform the public and policy makers,the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy partnered withthe National Ocean Economics Project to produce aneconomic study, “Living Near... And Making A LivingFrom... The Nation’s Coasts And Oceans” (AppendixC). This study pulls together information from a widerange of sources and clearly shows that our oceansand coasts are among our nation’s most vital economicassets. In so doing, it distinguishes betweenthe ocean economy, the portion of the economy thatrelies directly on ocean attributes, and the coastaleconomy, which includes all economic activity thattakes place on or near the coast, whether or not thatactivity has a direct link to the sea.In 2000, the ocean economy contributed morethan $117 billion to American prosperity and supportedwell over two million jobs. Roughly threequartersof the jobs and half the economic value wereproduced by ocean-related tourism and recreation(Figure 1.1). For comparison, ocean-related employmentwas almost 1 1 ⁄2 times larger than agriculturalemployment in 2000, and total economic output was2 1 ⁄2 times larger than that of the farm sector.The level of overall economic activity withincoastal areas is even higher (Figure 1.2). More than$1 trillion, or one-tenth, of the nation’s annual grossdomestic product (GDP) is generated withinnearshore areas, the relatively narrow strip of landimmediately adjacent to the coast. Looking at allFigure 1.1 The Value of the OceansJobs by Sector2,500,0002,000,0001,500,0001,000,000500,000coastal watershed counties, the contribution swells to over $4.5 trillion, half of thenation’s GDP. (For definitions of the different coastal zones, see Box 1.1.) The contributionto employment is equally impressive, with sixteen million jobs in nearshore areas andsixty million in coastal watershed counties. (See Appendix C for additional details.)Even these remarkable numbers do not fully capture the economic contributions ofoceans and coastal industries. More than thirteen million jobs are related to trade transportedby the network of inland waterways and ports that support U.S. waterborne commerce.1,2 The oceans provide tremendous value to our national economy. Annually, thenation’s ports handle more than $700 billion in goods, 3 and the cruise industry and itspassengers account for $12 billion in spending. 4 The commercial fishing industry’s totalvalue exceeds $28 billion annually, 5 with the recreational saltwater fishing industry valuedat around $20 billion, 6 and the annual U.S. retail trade in ornamental fish worth anotherNumber of Jobs0■ Tourism & Recreation■ Transportation■ Ship & Boat BuildingGross DomesticProduct by SectorBillions of Dollars$140$120$100$80$60$40$20$0■ Living Resources■ Minerals■ ConstructionThe ocean economy includes activities that rely directly onocean attributes or that take place on or under the ocean.In 2000, Tourism and Recreation was the largest sector in theocean economy, providing approximately 1.6 million jobs.Source: Living Near… and Making a Living From… the Nation’s Coastsand Oceans, Appendix C.C HAPTER 1: RECOGNIZING O CEAN A SSETS AND C HALLENGES 31