A staggered mail back design instrument was used to collect detailed data, based on the recipients most recent coldwater angling trip, on expenditures and benefits received for anglers fishing in each of five different resources: streams year round; Lake Superior by boat; Lake Superior shores and streams; inland lakes in winter; and inland lakes in spring, summer and fall. Using the expenditure results of the survey (approximately $105 per person per day) and regional multipliers a total economic impact was calculated of between $140.7 to $156.7 million in direct sales. $85.5 to $95.2 million in income, and 3128 and 3,482 full and part time jobs.

This article answers two major policy questions about the economic benefits of sport fishing in Pennsylvania: what is the annual value of Pennsylvania's sport fishing resources, and what is the annual economic impact from the use of that resource. Data from a mail-based questionnaire with 907 respondents was used to answered these questions using the travel cost method and input-output analysis (IMPLAN). The annual total value of the sport fishing resource was found to be $3.98 billion or about three times the total out-of-pocket expenses. The study found an overall economic impact of sport fishing of 4.75 billion.

Steinback, S. R. 1999. "Regional Economic Impact Assessments of Recreational Fisheries: An Application of the IMPLAN Modeling System to Marine Party and Charter Boat Fishing in Maine." North American Journal of Fisheries Management 19:724-736.

This paper looks at the regional economic impact of marine party and charter boat fishing in Maine. Using IMPLAN, non-resident and resident sales, income and employment impact are estimated. This articles looks to provide a starting point toward establishing consistent and defensible techniques for conducting regional economic impact assessments of recreational fisheries and to explore appropriate uses of economic impact assessment outputs as they relate to the growing needs of natural resource managers. This is important as most studies only report the final impacts of the impact study, without describing the interdependencies that produced the impacts or how the results should be and should not be used to guide management decisions.

Provencher, B. and R. C. Bishop. 1997. "An Estimable Dynamic Model of Recreation Behavior with an Application to Great Lakes Angling." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 33:107-127.

Travel cost method is widely applied to estimate the economic benefit of non-market resources for site-specific recreational activities. This paper develops a dynamic structural model of the decision to visit a recreation site. Compared to the typical static model approach to this problem, a dynamic model allows the analyst to develop a decision problem that looks more like "the real thing". For illustration, the model is applied to the decisions of of fishing club members on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan. The authors conclude that due to the challenges of obtaining appropriate data and some of the limiting assumptions of the model, that this type of model is likely appropriate only in certain circumstances. In many cases the static model will likely yield welfare estimates similar to the dynamic model with much less cost and effort. The relative accuracy of each modeling technique needs more empirical investigation.

Marcouiller, D. W., A. Anderson and W. C. Norman. 1996. Trout Angling in Southwestern Wisconsin and Implications for Regional Development. Madison, WI: The Center for Community Economic Development, University of Wisconsin-Extension.

This study assessed trout anglers on two Southwestern Wisconsin streams for their perceptions about current resource attributes and their resource use behavior. A two stage survey effort was undertaken during the 1995 angling season including angler identification and subsequent survey. In addition to perceptive and behavioral information, the effort used expenditure data with an input-output model (constructed using MicroIMPLAN) to estimate regional economic impacts. The study also collected data on angler willingness-to-pay for non-market resource attributes affected through fisheries management. Results from this portion of the study were based on graphical analysis of a series of dichotomous choice contingent valuation questions.

Marcouiller, D. W., W. C. Norman, A. Anderson and A. Stoecker. 1996. Valuing Management Attributes of a Trout Fishery Resource: Differences Between Local and Non-Local Anglers. May 12-23. University Park: Paper presented at the 6th International Symposium on Society and Natural Resources.

This study analyzed the perception of fishery resource attributes by anglers in Southwestern Wisconsin during the 1995 angling season. Logistic regression and a dichotomous choice contingent valuation survey were used to develop non-market resource valuation measures. Local anglers were shown to be significantly different from non-local anglers in many respects. Of particular interest were differences in the economic values associated with resource attributes that are manipulated through fisheries management activities.

Leede Research Group. 1994. Wisconsin's Great Lakes Trout and Salmon Sport Fishery, The Economic Impact, Short Summary Edition. Manitowoc, WI: Leede Research Group.

Because the Great Lakes fishery was reported to have high contamination levels in 1989, a survey was carried out to determine the importance of sports fishing to the Wisconsin economy. This report is based on a survey of groups involved in the sport of fishing. This report updated the expenditure calculations to understand the changes in expenditures and their impact from the peak year of 1988 through 1993. The original study estimated that 60% of total expenditures occurred in the lakeshore counties. The report showed the potential dollars that were lost due to the changes in the sport fishery. Additional research will be conducted on the impact this decline had on jobs.

Connelly, N. A. and T. L. Brown. 1991. "Net Economic Value of the Freshwater Recreational Fisheries of New York." Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 120:770-775.

This paper uses the results of an extensive survey conducted in 1988 to estimate the net economic value of the state of New York's recreational fishery. The net economic value estimated through willingness to pay exceeded $284 million with $69 million associated with the portion of the Great Lakes assigned to New York. Over time there has been a shift in trips for warmwater species to trips for coldwater or both warm and coldwater species. This is attributed to salmonid enhancement programs. Some factors such as apparent declining sportfish biomass and an aging population suggest that the real net value of the Great Lakes fishing may have reached a peak unless the quality of the fishing experience can be improved.

Bockstael, N. E., I. E. J. Strand, K. E. McConnel and F. Arsanjani. 1990. "Sample Selection Bias in the Estimation of Recreation Demand Functions: An Application to Sportfishing." Land Economics 66(1):40-49.

This paper explores three methods for correcting sample selection bias in a sport fishing demand problem. Each method estimates a demand for sport fishing trips when the sample includes non-participants. Of the three models used - Heckman, Tobit and Cragg - the Cragg model is found to be most appropriate for calculating welfare benefits.

Lubner, J., H. Moyer and J. Gray. 1987. Results of the 1985-86 Lake Michigan Fishing Survey. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin sea Grant Program, Recreation Resources Centre, University of Wisconsin-Extension.

This report presents data from a survey of anglers who used charter boat operators. The purpose of this report was undertaken to identify marketing strategies, the economic impact of charter boat operations by gathering information on the angler profile, his/her expenditures, and other factors related to the charter boat experience. This report found that $370.50 per household was spent on fishing. Charter boat customers spent about $4 million in the five port areas in Wisconsin with an additional $400,000 spent in other areas of Wisconsin. According to this report, the economic impact is at least double these figures.

Dawson, C. 1985. The Great Lakes Charterboat Fishing Industry. Mexico, NY: New York Sea Grant Extension Program, Cooperative Extension Offices.

This publication contains eleven studies of which four are devoted to analyzing the economic impact of the charter boat fishing industry. Three studies look at marketing research and applications and four studies look at business and financial management practices. This study is included in this bibliography because one study in particular, "The Economic Contribution of Ohio's Lake Erie Charterboat Industry," used willingness-to-pay estimates, the only study in this collection to use this method.

Samples, K. C. and R. C. Bishop. 1981. The Lake Michigan Angler: A Wisconsin Profile. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, Department of Agricultural Economics, Center for Resource Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This report builds a profile of the Wisconsin Lake Michigan angler. Included in the report is a section on the economic impacts of the angler. In 1978, Lake Michigan anglers in Wisconsin spent a total of $16.4 million on their angling pursuit. Of that, $9.8 million was spent in Wisconsin coastal counties and $1.8 million in other Wisconsin counties. A cost-benefit analysis of government expenditures to angler consumer surplus, calculated by willingness to pay, is also calculated. The study conludes that there were $2.5 million in government expenditures on Lake Michigan angling in 1978, while anglers derived a consumer surplus of $7.2 million. This is a return on government investment of $2.8 to every one dollar invested.

Other Examples:

Tay, R. S. and P. S. McCarthy. 1994. "Benefits of Improved Water Quality: A Discrete Choice Analysis of Freshwater Recreational Demands." Environment and Planning 26(10):1625-1638.

The Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior had the U.S. Bureau of the Census to conduct a two-phased survey for a national count of fishermen and hunters and non-consumptive users of wildlife. This report represented the Wisconsin sample. In the first phase, households were sampled by phone to determine who had partook in wildlife activities. From this information, the second phase was conducted which consisted of interviews with subsamples of fishermen, hunters, and others. This report provided detailed information such as trip-related expenditures, expenditures for wildlife-associated recreation, and residential and non-residential participants.

United States Department of the Interior. 1988. 1985 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife Associated Recreation. U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Services.

The Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior had the U.S. Bureau of the Census to conduct a two-phased survey for a national count of fishermen and hunters and non-consumptive users of wildlife. In the first phase, households were sampled by phone to determine who had partook in wildlife activities. From this information, the second phase was conducted which consisted of interviews with subsamples of fishermen, hunters, and others. This report provided detailed information from this census.