Full report - Conservation Gateway

Chapter 13 - Human UsesResultsA brief summary is presented here; please refer toAppendix 13-2 for detailed results. Annual coastal-andocean-related economic output in the Northwest Atlanticregion is estimated at $362 billion. Corrected for inflation,there has been a 17% increase from 1995 to 2006 in directoutput in the region’s broadly defined (primary and secondary)ocean sectors. Annual ocean-related employmentin the Northwest Atlantic region stands at almost 3million persons. There has been a 25% increase from 1995to 2006 in employment in the region’s broadly definedocean sectors.Can we illustrate it spatially?Economic activity for each sector can be mapped to theresolution of counties (Figure 13-1.) Additional IMPLANmodel outputs have been mapped by coastal county, includingmaps for revenue output for each industry and onemap of all the industries combined (IMPLAN totals).Spatial data on human uses in the ocean cannot be relatedto IMPLAN outputs without additional work to developdata and modeling approaches to explicitly link the spatialdistribution of ocean and shore based activities.Limitations• Marine and coastal industries are often hard toextract in aggregate categories• Economic impacts may be inflated and exaggeratethe value of a sector• Data is binned at state or county level makinghigher resolution spatial illustration difficult.• Coastal county data is not linked to spatial data onoffshore activity. Unless there is datadescribing the geographic distribution of humanactivities in the ocean, it is not possible todistribute data on outputs, employment orvalue-added over the ocean.• Traditional IO models do not yield estimates ofnet economic value, as represented by consumerand producer surpluses.• With IMPLAN results, only one part of themarine/coastal market was measured. Forexample, a cost-benefit analysis that looks at theeconomic values between strategies would involveconsumer and producer surplus data.• The IMPLAN model does not measurenon-market values or ecosystem services values(i.e. resources that are “unpriced”). Non-marketbenefits comprise consumer surpluses forenvironmental amenities that are not traded inestablished markets, and, therefore, are notproduced by an industry.Further research to evaluate spatial linkages between socio-economicand ecological data is needed to inform marinespatial planning processes. This work could includelinking economic data to the relevant places where resourceuses occur, and quantifying the market values of forspecific human uses at varying intensities. Additionally,non-market valuation methods are needed to informecosystem based management decisions to meet goals forlong-term sustenance of ecosystem services that have nodirect market value (e.g. erosion and pollution control,cultural, aesthetic).Human Use MappingCoastal and marine spatial planning to support ecosystembased management requires high quality and high resolutionspatial data on human uses. During the course of thisassessment, spatial data was acquired on human uses withthe data on coastal and marine habitats and species.Map layers from diverse sources were obtained that containeddata on pollution, shoreline development, coastalsand mining, recreational and commercial fishing, shippinglanes, telecommunications cables, energy development,hazardous waste dump sites, shipwrecks, militaryuse areas, and administrative boundaries.13-Northwest Atlantic Marine Ecoregional Assessment • Phase 1 Report