The Economic Impact of Recreational Dolphin Fishing in Florida
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The Economic Impact of Recreational Dolphin Fishing in Florida
Prepared for:
South Atlantic Fishing Environmentalists (S.A.F.E.)
Florida City, Florida
Prepared by:
Tony Fedler, Ph.D.
Human Dimensions Consulting
9707 SW 55th Road
Gainesville, FL 32608
(352) 339-2787
tfedler@cox.net
April 2017Table of Contents
Section Page
List of Tables…………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iii
Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
Objectives………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Study Methods……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2
Dolphin Catch and Effort Data………….....……………………………………………….……………………………….. 2
Angler Survey…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Angler Survey Procedures.…………………………………………………………………………….……………………….. 4
Telephone Survey Design………………………………………………………………………….……………………………. 4
Economic Impact Analysis Procedures……………………………………………………………………………………. 5
Sampling Error……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
Results……………….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………… 7
Survey Response………..…………………..……………………………………………………………………………………… 7
Dolphin Catch and Effort……………………..…………………….………………………………………………………….. 8
Angler Expenditures……..………………………………….………………………………………………..………………….. 12
Discussion and Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 15
References……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….…. 16
iiList of Tables and Figures
Table Page
Table 1: Table 1: Saltwater fishing license buyer telephone survey response ……..………..……………… 7
Table 2: Inactive and active saltwater fishing license buyers among telephone
survey respondents ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 7
Table 3: Florida offshore anglers among telephone survey respondents………………………………………. 8
Table 4: Recreational dolphin catch by year and Florida region (number of fish)…........................... 8
Table 5: Number of trips targeting dolphin by Florida region and mode…………………………….…………. 9
Table 6: Total offshore recreational fishing trips and dolphin trips by region.……………………………….. 10
Table 7: Total offshore trips and dolphin trips by region and mode ……..………………………………………. 11
Table 8: Mean trip and durable expenditures by offshore anglers…………………………………………………. 12
Table 9: Mean and total trip and durable expenditures for dolphin fishing by Florida region………… 13
Table 10: Total expenditures for dolphin fishing by Florida region and mode………………………………… 14
Table 11: Total economic impacts generated in Florida for dolphin fishing…………………………………….. 14
Figure 1: Trip and durable goods expenditure categories………......................................................... 4
iiiThe Economic Impact of Recreational Dolphin Fishing in Florida
Understanding the dependence of local communities on specific fisheries in a region helps build
information needed to manage these species sustainably, to restore declining species, and to protect
habitat that is crucial to the spawning, rearing and other important components of a species life history.
Determining the economic impact of a fishery helps identify the role a specific fishery plays in the
regional economy and brings a better understanding of how changes in management could affect local
communities and the regional economy.
BACKGROUND
Historically, only the most popular, imperiled or widespread near-shore saltwater recreational fish
species have received significant management attention in Florida and throughout the nation. Until
recently, snook and redfish have been the primary focus of scientific research on near-shore species in
Florida. In the past few years, research on other recreational species has been on the upswing, but these
projects have been small in scale and mostly privately funded. Very little is known about recreational
fishing for most pelagic species beyond catch and effort data collected by the National Marine Fisheries
Service (NMFS) in their Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). Supplemental economic impact
studies generally focus on overall marine recreational fishing in individual states or regions (e.g., Lovell et
al. 2013) and not on specific types of fishing or targeted species (e.g., Fedler 2013) in terms of their
importance to local communities and their economic effects.
The National Marine Fisheries Service annually collects data on marine recreational fishing activity in
many of the coastal states and works with state partners to collect compatible data. The Marine
Recreational Information Program provides data on recreational fisheries catch, harvest, effort and
participation for an array of species in each state. The data has been used for a variety of purposes
including management, stock assessments, and economic impact assessments among many other uses.
However, unless a specific species is being studied as part of the fisheries management plan
development process, the economic importance of a specific fishery is generally not available.
Access to basic MRIP data on fishing participation, effort, species caught and harvested, and mode of
fishing is readily available in the MRIP Data Query online portal. To extend our understanding of the
social and economic importance of various fisheries, fishing effort and catch data can be combined with
expenditure data, from independent angler surveys, to estimate the economic effects of recreational
fishing for specific fish species. Angler expenditures can then be used with econometric models to
estimate the economic effects of fishing for specific species. These effects include direct purchases
anglers make for fishing trips, and the effects of these expenditures in the economy.
The goal of this study is to estimate the economic impact of dolphin (Coryphaena hippurus) fishing in
the Florida. Economic impact includes the multiplier effects of angler expenditures, the wages and
salaries generated by angler spending, and the jobs created.
1Objectives
Estimate the number of fish caught and trips anglers spent targeting dolphin on the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts of Florida during 2015.
Obtain offshore angler annual saltwater fishing trip expenditures within Florida.
Estimate annual angler value added, wages, and jobs generated by dolphin angling.
STUDY METHODS
This study used data from two different sources to create the economic assessment of dolphin
angling in Florida. First, data from NOAA Fisheries Marine Recreational Information Program provided
estimates of angler catch and trips for dolphin during the study year of 2015. At the time this report was
being prepared, final estimates for species and trips were available through 2015. The 2016 estimates of
fishing effort and catch were available only in preliminary form. The 2015 effort and catch data was also
used because it coincided closely with the year angler expenditure estimates were collected.
The second source of data came from a telephone survey of Florida saltwater anglers conducted
during the spring of 2016. Information on fishing activity, annual expenditures for fishing and other
variables was collected for the study period of July 2015 to June 2016.
Dolphin Catch and Effort Data
Estimates of recreational catch and species composition are produced using information gathered
from dockside interviews of anglers who have completed their fishing trips and surveys of the angling
population. Beginning in 2015, NOAA Fisheries began conducting a new mail-based survey alongside the
current telephone survey of coastal households on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. Based on an extensive
series of pilot tests conducted over several years, the new survey produced more accurate estimates of
the number of fishing trips that occur each year Lovell, Steinback and Hilger. 2013). The tests also
indicated that the new survey resulted in higher estimates of the total number of trips fishermen took. It
was determined that the higher angler effort estimates were not related to differences in survey
methods (mail versus phone), but were due to improved response rates and greater efficiency in
capturing fishing activity.
Recreational fisheries statistics are available from the NOAA Office of Science and Technology
website (http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/recreational-fisheries/index). Custom catch, effort and
participation data queries by year, state and species were made with an interactive online tool. For this
study, data queries were made separately for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida for dolphin catch and
trips. The trip queries included trips that primarily targeted dolphin and those where dolphin were a
secondary species targeted. Data on dolphin catch and trips is presented for the years 2010 through 2015
to show recent trends in the recreational fishery.
2Angler Survey
This project used the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s saltwater fishing license
file as the basis for identifying and surveying Florida anglers and collecting their fishing-related
expenditure data. The first phase of this project used data on Florida saltwater fishing license buyers who
were eligible to fish during the July 2015 – June 2016 study period. An electronic file of all saltwater
license purchasers eligible to fish during the study year was obtained from the FWC Licensing Division.
This procedure was used to coincide with survey questioning that focused on fishing activity during the
previous 12 months.
The next step involved eliminating duplicate license holders. License duplication results from anglers
receiving a new license because of loss of the original license, upgrading their license from the free shore-
based saltwater license to the fee-based license allowing fishing from a boat, and angler forgetfulness
regarding the date of their last license purchase. Further duplication often occurs when anglers purchase
combination hunting and fishing licenses, 5-year licenses, or combination freshwater and saltwater
fishing licenses. Once duplicate licenses were eliminated, the master license file contained 1,314,592
anglers.
Once the duplication-free master license file was created, the file was separated into two sub-files:
resident and non-resident buyers. Resident license buyers were stratified by distance from Miami-Dade
and Monroe counties to maximize the number of anglers fishing reporting South Florida fishing activity
during 2015-2016. Resident anglers were classified into three strata based on their residence location.
Zone 1 anglers consisted of anglers residing in Miami-Dade, Broward, Collier, Palm Beach and Monroe
counties. Zone 2 included anglers in Lee, Charlotte, Hendry, Glades, Sarasota, Manatee, Desoto, Hardee,
Highlands, Okeechobee, Martin and St. Lucie counties. The remaining counties in Florida comprised Zone
3. License buyers in the non-resident sub-file from other states and Canada were aggregated into Zone 4.
Anglers residing outside the U.S. and Canada were omitted from the study because of the difficulty in
contacting them.
License buyers from each region were randomly selected to receive a telephone survey asking them
about their Florida saltwater fishing activity. The target number of completed Internet surveys of anglers
was 500 anglers from Zones 1 and 2, and 400 saltwater anglers from Zones 3 and 4. This sampling
procedure required differential weighting of respondents by zone to accurately estimate angler numbers
and their spending.
Data on each buyer in the FWC saltwater license file included name, address, date of birth, type of
license purchased, date of license purchase, gender, ethnicity, telephone number and e-mail address (if
voluntarily provided by the buyer). Resident license buyers were classified into a county and
corresponding zone based upon their residential address. The survey’s angling activity and expenditure
questions followed those used by Fedler (2013).
3Angler Survey Procedures
Telephone surveys were conducted by a national telephone survey firm. The survey center is staffed
by full-time professional interviewers with extensive experience conducting computer-assisted telephone
interviews about outdoor recreation and natural resources management.
Telephone surveying times were Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday
from noon to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., local time. A five-callback design was
used to maintain the representativeness of the sample to avoid bias toward people easy to reach by
telephone and to provide an equal opportunity for all to participate. When a respondent could not be
reached on the first call, subsequent calls were placed on different days of the week and at different
times of the day.
Telephone Survey Design
The design of the telephone survey allowed for efficiently identifying Florida offshore anglers while
collecting essential information on all other Florida saltwater anglers. After a brief introduction about the
survey, the initial screening question asked the respondent if they had fished in Florida saltwater areas
during 2015-2016 study period. Active saltwater anglers were then asked questions about their inshore
and offshore fishing activity.
Angler expenditure questions focused on 10 trip-related categories and eight durable good-related
categories shown in Figure 1. Respondents were asked how much they spent in Florida for each category
during the past 12 months.
Figure 1: Trip and durable goods expenditure categories
Trip Expenditures Durable Good Expenditures
Food, drink, refreshments & ice Rods, reels & components
Lodging Lines and leaders
Public transportation Hooks, sinkers and swivels
Private transportation Artificial lures, flies & baits
Charter and guide fees Tackle boxes, nets & gaffs
Fishing licenses and tags Minnow traps, cast nets & bait containers
Live and dead bait Electronic devices
Boat and equipment rental Boat payments and insurance
Boat fuel
Boat moorage & maintenance
4Economic Impact Analysis Procedures
The input-output model used in this report generates four different metrics, referred to as impacts,
for assessing the contributions to a region’s economy from expenditures on marine recreational fishing.
The different measures of impacts are:
Output is the gross value of sales by businesses within the economic region affected by an
activity.
Income includes personal income (wages and salaries) and proprietors’ income (income from
self-employment).
Value Added is the contribution made to the gross domestic product in a region from marine
recreational fishing.
Employment is specified based on full-time and part-time jobs. There is significant part-time and
seasonal employment in commercial and recreational fishing and many other industries.
The first three types of impacts are measured in terms of dollars, whereas employment impacts are
measured in terms of number of full-time equivalent jobs. Additionally, the first three categories of
impacts are not independent and it is important to note that adding them together would result in some
double counting of impacts. Throughout this report, the results of the input-output analysis are referred
to as economic impacts.
The RIMS II methodology is the Regional Input-Output Modeling System (Bureau of Economic
Analysis 2006) used in this study to estimate the value added, income and employment impacts of
recreational fishing for dolphin. This system was developed and published by the U.S. Department of
Commerce and is one of the primary ways to conduct a systemic analysis of the economic impacts of
projects and programs on affected regions.
RIMS II is widely used in both the public and private sector. In the public sector, for example, the
Department of Defense uses RIMS II to estimate the regional impacts of military base closings, and state
departments of transportation use RIMS II to estimate the regional impacts of airport construction and
expansion. In the private sector, analysts, consultants and economic development practitioners use RIMS
II to estimate the regional impacts of a variety of projects, such as the development of theme parks and
shopping malls. RIMS II measures the economic impact of an industry, in this case fishing, by accounting
for Output, Income, Value Added and Employment impacts.
RIMS II multipliers are intended to show the total regional effects on industrial output, income and
employment for any county or group of contiguous counties in the United States resulting from any
industry activity. Industry descriptions are defined per the BEA's 2005 national input-output tables.
Impacts for fishing-related businesses can be estimated by applying the RIMS II multipliers to activities
within the appropriate industrial sector.
Each fishing-related business is assigned a Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code. The fishing-
related business is identified by a corresponding RIMS II code, which identifies the multiplier factor to be
5applied to that business. Business activities that are most likely encountered in fishing-related economic
studies are represented by the categories used to measure angler expenditures. To apply the RIMS II
model, angler expenditure categories are each matched to the appropriate output, earnings and
employment multipliers. For example, dollars attributed to gasoline purchases are multiplied separately
by the output, earnings and employment multipliers specific to gasoline refinement. The resulting
estimates describe the total economic effects, income and jobs supported by the refining industry
because of fuel purchases made by anglers. This same process is repeated for all reported expenditures.
Finally, the total output, income and employment estimated for each expenditure type are summed to
produce the total effect for each impact category.
Sampling Error
Throughout this report, findings of the telephone survey are reported at a 95% confidence interval.
For the entire sample of saltwater anglers, the sampling error for Florida anglers was plus or minus 1.8
percentage points. This means that if the survey were conducted 100 times on different samples that
were selected in the same way, the findings of 95 out of the 100 surveys would fall within plus or minus
1.8 percentage points of each other. Sampling error was calculated using the formula described in
Dillman (2009). Sampling error for Florida anglers in Region 1 was 3.4%, 3.7% for Region 2, 3.7% for
Region 3 and 4.0% for Region 4. Sample error differs for each region because of differences in the
number of license holders, proportion of active anglers, and the sample size in each region.
6RESULTS
The results of this study are presented in three sections. The first section provides details on the
telephone survey response and number of offshore anglers identified in the survey. The second lists
dolphin catch statistics and angler dolphin fishing effort for 2010 through 2015. These data were
obtained from the NOAA Fisheries Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP). The final section
provides the economic impacts of angler expenditures.
Survey Response
Telephone survey responses of saltwater fishing license buyers from each of the three Florida zones
were very similar (Table 1), ranging from 38% to 41%. Non-resident license buyers in Zone 4 responded at
a much higher rate than those in other zones. Overall, the completed number of calls from each zone
were similar except for Zone 1 where anglers were purposefully over-sampled to ensure sufficient
offshore anglers would be contacted.
Table 1: Saltwater fishing license buyer telephone survey response
Disconnected Overall
or Wrong Completed Response
Number Refusals Terminated Calls Total Calls Rate
Zone 1 1,069 71 34 823 1,997 41.2%
Zone 2 993 84 27 683 1,787 38.2%
Zone 3 892 55 14 688 1,649 41.7%
Zone 4 491 56 12 606 1,165 52.0%
Total 3,445 266 87 2,800 6,598 42.4%
To begin estimating the proportion of offshore anglers in the sample, it was first necessary to identify
the number of active anglers in the sample (Table 2). As seen in the table, one-fourth of the license
buyers contacted had not fished during the previous 12 months. The percentage of inactive Florida
saltwater anglers ranged from 25% to 29%. Non-resident (Zone 4) license buyers were much more active
as a group than Florida buyers as about 16% were inactive. This makes sense from the standpoint that
non-residents often buy license after they arrive in Florida and before they go fishing for the first time.
Table 2: Inactive and active saltwater fishing license buyers among telephone survey respondents
Inactive License Buyers Active License Buyers Total
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
Zone 1 242 29.4% 581 70.6% 823 100.0%
Zone 2 174 25.5% 509 74.5% 683 100.0%
Zone 3 187 27.2% 501 72.8% 688 100.0%
Zone 4 100 16.5% 506 83.5% 606 100.0%
Total 703 25.1% 2,097 74.9% 2,800 100.0%
7Among active anglers, the percentage of offshore anglers decreased the further from South Florida
the angler lived (Table 3). Somewhat surprisingly, the percentage of offshore anglers in the non-resident
group was very low. This may be related to the lack of having private boats equipped for fishing offshore
as well as other reasons. The purpose of identifying offshore anglers in Table 3 was to show the sample
size used for calculating average daily expenditures when estimating economic impacts described later in
this report.
Table 3: Florida offshore anglers among telephone survey respondents
Total Offshore Percent
Anglers Anglers Offshore
Zone 1 581 178 30.6%
Zone 2 509 91 17.9%
Zone 3 501 55 11.0%
Zone 4 506 62 12.3%
Total Anglers 2,097 386 18.4%
Dolphin Catch and Effort
As described in the Study Methods section above, dolphin catch data from 2010 to 2015 was
obtained from the NMFS Marine Recreational Information Program. Data queries were made through the
online data tool. As seen in Table 4, the number of dolphin caught over the six-year period varied
substantially. These fluctuations are not only related to differences in catch among years, they are also
influenced by intercept sampling procedures, estimation error (PSE), and fish population levels.
During the 2015 study year, an estimated 1.5 million dolphin fish were caught by Florida anglers.
From 2013 through 2015, similar numbers of fish were caught by Atlantic and Gulf coast anglers (Table
4). For 2015, the estimated number of dolphin caught by recreational anglers ranged from 1,335,000 to
1,679,000 ($1,506,746 ± 11.4% PSE).
Table 4: Recreational dolphin catch by year and Florida region (number of fish)
Atlantic Gulf Total
Year Number Number Number
2010 366,046 267,944 633,990
2011 692,960 455,918 1,148,878
2012 538,966 359,146 898,112
2013 460,444 446,703 907,147
2014 609,737 631,623 1,241,360
2015 747,172 759,574 1,506,746
Source: Personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics
Division. January 20, 2017.
8The MRIP collects detailed information on angler catch during the angler intercept survey conducted
at access points along the entire Florida coast. Detailed information on the intercept methodology can be
found on the MRIP website (http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/recreational-fisheries/index). An important
variable collected during the interview was whether the fish caught were specifically targeted (primary
species) or caught while targeting a different species (secondary target).
Primary and secondary trips targeting dolphin reported in the MRIP trip data for 2010 through 2015
were aggregated for charter boat and private boat anglers by year. As shown in Table 5, the number of
trips anglers made targeting dolphin varied substantially across years for both charter and private boat
anglers and in both the Atlantic and Gulf regions. The large majority of dolphin being targeted in the
Atlantic (97%) were by private boaters. Whereas in the Gulf, one-third of the dolphin trips were targeted
by charter boat anglers.
Table 5: Number of trips targeting dolphin by Florida region and mode
Atlantic
Charter Boat Private Boat
Primary Secondary Primary Secondary Total
Year Target Target Total Target Target Total Florida
2010 4,099 4,331 8,430 426,689 56,174 482,863 491,293
2011 16,255 2,346 18,601 534,200 47,859 582,059 600,660
2012 3,548 1,692 5,240 505,205 63,862 569,067 574,307
2013 1,988 1,160 3,148 437,326 50,183 487,509 490,657
2014 6,439 1,003 7,442 492,185 21,073 513,258 520,700
2015 12,642 739 13,381 394,175 24,096 418,271 431,652
Gulf
2010 14,398 901 15,299 31,725 2,892 34,617 49,916
2011 20,781 1,987 22,768 55,023 2,244 57,267 112,290
2012 28,711 1,771 30,482 57,420 5,075 62,495 92,977
2013 19,389 2,452 21,841 114,353 17,103 131,456 153,297
2014 33,263 5,766 39,029 77,108 7,940 85,048 124,077
2015 36,106 5,306 41,412 77,922 3,229 81,151 122,563
Florida Total
2010 18,497 5,232 23,729 458,414 59,066 517,480 541,209
2011 37,036 4,333 41,369 589,223 50,103 639,326 680,695
2012 32,259 3,463 35,722 562,625 68,937 631,562 667,284
2013 21,377 3,612 24,989 551,679 67,286 618,965 643,954
2014 39,702 6,769 46,471 569,293 29,013 598,306 644,777
2015 48,748 6,045 54,793 472,097 27,325 499,422 554,215
Source: Personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics
Division. January 20, 2017.
9During 2015, 94% of the Atlantic charter boat dolphin anglers targeting dolphin indicated that
dolphin were their primary target compared to six percent that reported dolphin were a secondary target
species (Table 5). In the Gulf, 87% of the charter boat anglers targeting dolphin said dolphin were their
principal target, while 96% or the private boat anglers indicated dolphin were their primary target.
The centrality of dolphin fishing to angler fishing activity can be assessed to some degree by
comparing the number of dolphin trips to the total number of offshore fishing trips made by anglers
across the six years (Table 6). This percentage was very consistent from 2010 through 2015 in both
Atlantic and Gulf waters. However, the differences in percentages between Atlantic and Gulf waters was
substantial as dolphin trips comprised about 10% of Atlantic offshore trips while only 1.6 percent of Gulf
offshore fishing trips targeted dolphin.
Table 6: Total offshore recreational fishing trips and dolphin trips by region
Atlantic
Year Total Offshore Trips Dolphin Trips Percent Dolphin
2010 5,824,406 491,293 8.4%
2011 5,421,844 600,660 11.1%
2012 5,171,854 574,307 11.1%
2013 4,798,147 490,657 10.2%
2014 5,143,269 520,700 10.1%
2015 4,388,134 431,652 9.8%
Gulf
2010 8,621,181 49,916 0.6%
2011 8,055,818 112,290 1.4%
2012 8,563,830 92,977 1.1%
2013 9,011,980 153,297 1.7%
2014 8,809,044 124,077 1.4%
2015 7,782,160 122,563 1.6%
Total Florida
2010 14,445,587 541,209 3.7%
2011 13,477,662 680,695 5.1%
2012 13,735,684 667,284 4.9%
2013 13,810,127 643,954 4.7%
2014 13,952,313 644,777 4.6%
2015 12,170,294 554,215 4.6%
Source: Personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics
Division. January 20, 2017.
10The percentage of Atlantic and Gulf charter boat anglers targeting dolphin is somewhat surprising
compared to private boat anglers. About seven percent of both Atlantic and Gulf charter boat trips
targeted dolphin (Table 7). By contrast, 27% of all Atlantic offshore private boat trips targeted dolphin,
while only 2.6% of the Gulf private boats targeted dolphin.
Table 7: Total offshore trips and dolphin trips by region and mode
Charter Boat Offshore Trips Private Offshore Boat Trips
Region Total Dolphin Percent Total Dolphin Percent
Atlantic 186,224 13,381 7.2% 1,543,760 418,271 27.1%
Gulf 624,994 41,412 6.6% 3,137,074 81,151 2.6%
Total 811,218 54,793 6.8% 4,680,834 499,422 10.7%
Source: Personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics
Division. January 20, 2017.
11Angler Expenditures
Angler expenditure information was obtained from a telephone survey of Florida saltwater license
buyers (Fedler 2015). The survey asked respondents to estimate their expenditures on ten trip-related
items and eight durable good items during the previous 12 months. Mean expenditures per trip were
calculated for offshore charter and private boat anglers identified in the study (Table 8). Charter anglers
spent an average of $469 per offshore fishing trip during 2015. About 73% of these expenditures were for
trip-related items and 27% for durable goods. Expenditures by private boat anglers were about one
hundred dollars less per trip than those of charter boat anglers. Private boat anglers spent an average of
$360 per trip. About two-thirds of private boat angler expenditures were for trip-related items and one-
third for durable goods.
Interestingly, the average trip expenditure by offshore anglers was very similar, though slightly lower,
to a comparable study by Lovell, Steinback and Hilger (2013). Their study estimated average trip
expenditures of $378 for all Atlantic saltwater anglers and $395 for Gulf anglers in 2011. These were very
similar to the overall average mean trip expenditure of $370 for offshore anglers in this study (Table 8).
Table 8: Mean trip and durable expenditures by offshore anglers
Trip Expenditures Charter Private Total
Food, drink & refreshments $46.23 $37.79 $38.62
Lodging $72.89 $44.95 $47.71
Public transportation $9.88 $3.91 $4.50
Private transportation $23.83 $22.57 $22.69
Guide fees $90.75 $0.00 $8.97
Fishing licenses & tags $4.37 $3.78 $3.84
Live & dead bait $13.34 $13.07 $13.10
Boat & equipment rental $12.98 $6.46 $7.10
Boat fuel $32.73 $52.01 $50.11
Boat mooring, maintenance. &
insurance $36.97 $41.03 $40.63
Subtotal $343.98 $225.56 $237.27
Durable Goods
Rods & reels $41.47 $35.99 $36.53
Lines & leaders $10.21 $13.82 $13.46
Hooks, sinkers & swivels $8.23 $8.57 $8.54
Artificial lures, baits & flies $7.81 $12.01 $11.60
Tackle boxes, nets, gaffs $5.46 $5.54 $5.54
Minnow traps, cast nest, bait containers $2.75 $2.79 $2.79
Electronic devices & trolling motors $4.72 $14.39 $13.44
Boat payments & insurance $44.92 $41.04 $41.42
Subtotal $125.57 $134.16 $133.31
Total Expenditures $469.54 $359.73 $370.58
12To estimate angler expenditures attributable to dolphin fishing, the mean per trip expenditure for
each expenditure item in Table 8 was multiplied by the number of dolphin trips in 2015 for Atlantic and
Gulf waters (Table 6) to produce a total expenditure shown in Table 9. As seen in the table, Atlantic
angler expenditures attributable to dolphin fishing were nearly $160 million and exceeded $45 million for
Gulf dolphin anglers. Together, expenditures by anglers for all dolphin fishing was an estimated $205.3
million.
Table 9: Mean and total trip and durable expenditures for dolphin fishing by Florida region
Total Expenditures
Florida Atlantic Florida Gulf Total Florida
Trip Expenditures
Food, drink & refreshments $16,670,758 $4,733,484.71 $21,404,243
Lodging $20,594,462 $5,847,578.72 $26,442,041
Public transportation $1,942,407 $551,525.71 $2,493,932
Private transportation $9,796,004 $2,781,471.27 $12,577,475
Charter/Guide fees $3,872,876 $1,099,661.89 $4,972,537
Fishing licenses & tags $1,657,781 $470,709.33 $2,128,490
Live & dead bait $5,654,982 $1,605,672.06 $7,260,654
Boat & equipment rental $3,064,900 $870,245.87 $3,935,146
Boat fuel $21,627,953 $6,141,027.38 $27,768,980
Boat mooring, maintenance & insurance $17,536,147 $4,979,202.52 $22,515,349
Subtotal $102,418,269 $29,080,579 $131,498,848
Durable Goods
Rods & reels $15,768,544 $4,477,311 $20,245,855
Lines & leaders $5,809,405 $1,649,519 $7,458,924
Hooks, sinkers & swivels $3,686,251 $1,046,672 $4,732,923
Artificial lures, baits & flies $5,005,996 $1,421,399 $6,427,395
Tackle boxes, nets, gaffs $2,389,818 $678,563 $3,068,382
Minnow traps, cast nest, bait containers $1,203,799 $341,806 $1,545,604
Electronic devices & trolling motors $5,800,459 $1,646,979 $7,447,437
Boat payments & insurance $17,880,503 $5,076,979 $22,957,482
Subtotal $57,544,775 $16,339,228 $73,884,003
Total Expenditures $159,963,044 $45,419,807 $205,382,851
13In Table 10, angler expenditures are broken out by Florida region and fishing mode. Charter boat
anglers spent nearly $26 million and private boat anglers $180 million fishing for dolphin in Florida during
2015. Charter boat angler expenditures comprised about 12% of all dolphin-related fishing expenditures
in Florida.
Table 10: Total expenditures for dolphin fishing by Florida region and mode
Charter Private Total
Atlantic $6,282,940 $150,463,090 $156,746,030
Gulf $19,444,670 $29,192,151 $48,636,821
Total $25,727,611 $179,655,241 $205,382,851
State-level economic impacts were estimated for total dolphin fishing expenditures. The impacts are
divided into output, value-added, income, and employment impacts. Output impacts reflect total dollar
sales generated from expenditures by anglers in Florida. Value Added impacts represent the contribution
recreational angling makes to the gross domestic product of Florida. Income impacts represents wages,
salaries, benefits, and proprietary income generated from angler expenditures. Employment impacts
include both full-time and part-time workers and is expressed as full-time equivalent jobs.
Angler expenditures for dolphin fishing resulted in estimated retail sales (output) of nearly $267
million in 2015 (Table 11). These sales had secondary impacts (value added) of $234 million. Worker
income totaled $91 million and supported over nearly 2,400 jobs.
Table 11: Total economic impacts generated in Florida for dolphin fishing
Region Expenditures Employment Income Value Added Output
Atlantic Charter $6,282,940 97 $4,655,319 $7,182,715 $10,913,362
Gulf Charter $19,444,670 299 $14,407,449 $22,229,326 $33,775,066
Total Charter $25,727,611 396 $19,062,768 $29,412,041 $44,688,428
Atlantic Private $150,463,090 1,665 $60,466,595 $172,010,788 $186,154,416
Gulf Private $29,192,151 323 $11,731,448 $33,372,735 $36,116,817
Total Private $179,655,241 1,988 $72,198,043 $205,383,523 $222,271,233
Total Florida $205,382,851 2,384 $91,260,811 $234,795,564 $266,959,661
14DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Fishing for dolphin comprises a significant portion of all recreational fishing activity in Florida’s
offshore waters and is an important economic component of the offshore fishery. To estimate the
economic impact of the recreational dolphin fishery, two sources of data were used. A survey of Florida’s
saltwater fishing license buyers was integrated with catch and effort (trips) data from the NMFS Marine
Recreational Information Program to develop an overview of the dolphin fishery in 2015.
Over the past six years, the recreational catch of dolphin varied considerably. The catch trend was
generally increasing over the years, ranging from 634,000 in 2010 to 1,500,000 fish caught in 2015. The
number of angler trips was relatively stable during this period with 554,000 trips in 2015. About 10% of
the dolphin trips were made by charter boat anglers and 90% by private boat anglers. These trips were
not distributed the same between Atlantic and Gulf coasts. On the Atlantic coast, private boat dolphin
trips comprised 27% of all offshore trips, whereas, along the Gulf coast, private boat dolphin trips
accounted for less than three percent of all recreational offshore fishing trips.
The telephone survey of Florida offshore anglers showed that charter boat anglers spent an average
of $470 per trip for their fishing and private boat anglers spent $360. These daily expenditures resulted in
an estimated $205 million in overall dolphin-related fishing trip expenditures. Private boat anglers
accounted for $180 million or 87% of these expenditures while charter boat anglers contributed the
remaining $25 million to the total.
When multipliers were used to estimate the impacts of expenditures for dolphin fishing on the
Florida economy, the results showed that nearly 2,400 jobs were supported and $91 million in personal
income was generated. Further, $235 million in value added impacts were produced. Total sales (output)
from all dolphin fishing activity in 2015 was estimated at $267 million. Dolphin fishing comprises about
three percent of all saltwater fishing in Florida.
15REFERENCES
Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2006. Regional Multipliers: A User Handbook for the Regional Input-Output
Modeling System (RIMS II). Washington, DC: U.S, Government Printing Office.
Dillman, Don A., Smyth, Jolene D., Christian, Leah Melani. 2009. Internet, Phone, Mail and Mixed-Mode
Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, 4th edition. John Wiley: Hoboken, NJ
Fedler, A.J. 2013. Economic impact of the Florida Keys flats fishery. Report prepared for the Bonefish and
Tarpon Trust. 25pp
Lovell, S., S. Steinback, and J. Hilger. 2013. The Economic Contribution of Marine Angler Expenditures in
the United States, 2011. U.S. Dep. Commerce, NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-134, 188 p.
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