Estimating the Economic Impacts of a Trophy Largemouth Bass Fishery: Issues and Applications

—We sought to apply economic impact assessment methodology to better understand the local and state-level economic impacts associated with a trophy largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides fishery at Lake Fork, Texas. A sample of 848 anglers encountered during creel surveys were sent follow-up mail surveys and asked about their trip expenditures. Creel surveys indicated 74% of anglers were nonlocal state residents, 11% were residents of the three adjacent counties, 10% were from adjacent states, and 5% were other out-of-state anglers. An estimated 204,739 one-person, multiple-day fishing trips were made to Lake Fork between June 1, 1994, and May 31, 1995. We estimate that US$27,487,000 was spent on fishing trips during the study period: $15,783,000 in the local area, $10,637,000 elsewhere in Texas, and $1,067,000 out-of-state. Local residents spent the least per angler/trip ($44) and out-of-state anglers from nonbordering states spent the most per angler/trip ($474). Anglers residing outside of the local area (nonlocal residents and border state and other out-of-state residents) made about $14,540,000 (92%) of the total expenditures in the Lake Fork area. These direct expenditures for local goods and services generated an additional $4,019,871 in economic output, resulting in a total output of $18,559,871 and 367 fulland part-time jobs. The total value-added generated by this increased level of output was estimated at $9,355,999. The total output associated with the fishery at the state level was $9,585,057, and nonresident angler expenditures created 163 jobs in Texas. Besides showing the extent of positive economic impacts of nonlocal fishing activity, these results reveal the extent to which private sector stakeholders benefited from recreational fishing at Lake Fork. Human dimensions researchers have stressed that anglers seek a diversity of fishing experiences (Driver and Cooksey 1977; Fedler and Ditton 1994). Typically, fishery managers have provided for this diversity through variations in the types of settings they manage (i.e., ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams) and by focusing on managerially relevant species that flourish in those settings. With the increases in fishing pressure that have accompanied human population growth over the past 30 years, however, anglers are demanding even more diversity in their fishing opportunities. No longer satisfied with just a change in fishing locale, anglers want greater variety in the size and number of fish from their desired species that they can catch (fishing quality). This is particularly the case * Corresponding author: [email protected] Received January 27, 2002; accepted December 10, 2002 with largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides fishing. Even though managers recognize this trend, implementing regimes that provide for this diversity is a difficult task because managing similar water bodies differently will ultimately result in directly or indirectly excluding some anglers at each location. However, this is what must be done if agencies are to enhance fishing quality and maintain high levels of satisfaction within the overall angler population. For many years, trout fisheries management has utilized various rules and regulations to reduce or manipulate angling mortality to provide anglers with the particular fishing quality they seek (see, for example, Deinstadt 1987;