An Economic Assessment of the Value of Recreational Angling at Queensland Dams Involved in the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme
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An economic assessment of the value of recreational angling at Queensland dams involved in the Stocked Impoundment Permit Scheme Daniel Gregg and John Rolfe Value of recreational angling in the Queensland SIP scheme Publication Date: 2013 Produced by: Environmental Economics Programme Centre for Environmental Management Location: CQUniversity Australia Bruce Highway North Rockhampton 4702 Contact Details: Professor John Rolfe +61 7 49232 2132 [email protected] www.cem.cqu.edu.au 1 Value of recreational angling in the Queensland SIP scheme Executive Summary Recreational fishing at Stocked Impoundment Permit (SIP) dams in Queensland generates economic impacts on regional economies and provides direct recreation benefits to users. As these benefits are not directly traded in markets, specialist non-market valuation techniques such as the Travel Cost Method are required to estimate values. Data for this study has been collected in two ways in 2012 and early 2013. First, an onsite survey has been conducted at six dams in Queensland, with 804 anglers interviewed in total on their trip and fishing experiences. Second, an online survey has been offered to all anglers purchasing a SIP licence, with 219 responses being collected. The data identifies that there are substantial visit rates across a number of dams in Queensland. For the 31 dams where data was available for this study, recreational anglers purchasing SIP licences have spent an estimated 272,305 days fishing at the dams, spending an average 2.43 days per trip on 2.15 trips per year to spend 4.36 days fishing per angler group. Within those dams there is substantial variation in total fishing effort, with Somerset, Tinaroo, Wivenhoe and North Pine Dam generating more than 20,000 visits per annum. There are substantial impacts on regional economies from these recreational fishing visits. Queensland is already a net beneficiary of recreational fishing visits, with more interstate visitors coming to visit than the reverse. Many regional areas also benefit from the same patterns, with expenditure on items such as food, accommodation and fuel generating economic activity. The on-site survey and the on-line survey identified trip expenditures on non-travel items of $411 and $496 respectively, and a further $165 on travel, with nearly half of this spent in regional areas. This translates into between $46.1 and $55.6 Million in consumption expenditure on food, accommodation, alcohol and fishing related expenditures, and $18.6 Million on travel expenditure, with at least $28.5 Million spent directly into regional economies. There are substantial values associated with regional fishing. Application of the travel cost method using very conservative estimates of trip costs identified average values for $184.23 per fishing day at a dam. Extrapolation to total annual fishing days and across dams generates total annual estimates of recreational fishing values at $56.44 Million. Dams with the largest values for recreational fishing include Somerset, Tinaroo, Glen Lyon, Cressbrook, Leslie and Borumba Dams. The values that have been estimated with this report are very conservative, as only direct travel costs have been included as estimates of trip costs. Other consumption expenditure has not been included because of the difficulties in getting data consistent across respondents, with the effect that recreation values are understated. Comparisons with previous value estimates for Bjelke-Petersen, Boondooma and Fairbairn Dams indicates that approximately 60% of full trip values are being captured. On this basis, the total economic value of recreational fishing at the SIP dams is predicted to be approximately $95.3 Million per annum. 2 Value of recreational angling in the Queensland SIP scheme Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 2 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 4 2. Background ................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1 Recreational fishing in Australia and Queensland .............................................................. 6 2.2 Freshwater fishing ............................................................................................................... 7 2.3 Value of fishing activity in Queensland .............................................................................. 8 3. Data requirements for this study ................................................................................................. 9 On-site surveys ................................................................................................................................ 9 On-line surveys ............................................................................................................................. 11 4. Methods..................................................................................................................................... 12 4.1 Descriptive statistics and significance testing ......................................................................... 12 4.2 The Travel Cost Methodology (TCM) .................................................................................... 12 4.3 Estimation of TCM models ..................................................................................................... 13 5. Results – qualitative and descriptive ......................................................................................... 15 6. Results – econometric modelling of Willingness to Pay .......................................................... 23 6.1 Pooled dams data results ......................................................................................................... 23 6.2 Individual dams data results .................................................................................................... 26 7. Results – Online Data Analysis ................................................................................................ 30 8. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 38 References ......................................................................................................................................... 39 APPENDIX ONE: ON-SITE SURVEY ........................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX TWO: ON-LINE SURVEY ......................................................................................... 47 3 Value of recreational angling in the Queensland SIP scheme 1. Introduction This report is focused on estimating the economic values associated with recreational fishing at a number of freshwater dams in Queensland, Australia. Recreational fishing is important because it creates both commercial and recreational benefits. Most commercial benefits are generated by the expenditure of recreational users on travel, equipment, services and other items, while recreational benefits are enjoyed by people engaged in freshwater fishing. These benefits can be substantial, particularly for freshwater dams that have high visitation rates and usage. A major data gap for policy makers is that few estimates exist about the value of recreational fishing, even though economic values for these activities may be important for a number of reasons. Many freshwater impoundments are constructed for agricultural and industry uses, and the value of consequential recreational benefits are rarely assessed, even though these may be an important component of total values. Value information may be required to justify investment in fish stocking programs, recreation facilities, access roads and other services relating to regional activity. Value information may also be important in assessing the tradeoffs involved in changing access and management systems that might impact on recreational uses. Most recreation activities are not purchased in markets, and hence can not be directly valued from market information like market goods. Instead, specialist non-market valuation techniques such as the Travel Cost Method can be applied to assess these values. The relevant data is collected by interviewing or surveying recreational fishers directly to assess their expenditure patterns and other factors. An analysis then allows two key estimates to be made. The first is the amount of expenditure that is being generated for recreational fishing, which can be used to estimate the direct economic stimulus of activities, particularly at a regional level. The second is estimates of the value of the activity, which can be used to evaluate the appropriateness of public and other funding on services and infrastructure. A potential benefit of performing valuation studies is that results can be potentially transferred to other similar sites. In this study, the value of recreational fishing has been assessed for several freshwater impoundments (dams) in Queensland that are important recreational fishing sites. The focus of the research presented in this report was on freshwater recreational angling and in particular, angling at dams operating under the Stocked Impoundment Permit (SIP) scheme. Anglers wishing to access the fishing at dams falling under the SIP scheme are required to purchase a permit prior to