The Benefits of Water Quality Improvements for Marine Recreation: A Review of the Empirical Evidence

Abstract

This paper reviews the empirical literature on the economic value of marine recreation fishing, beach visits, and boating. Questions addressed include: What values do people place on changes in the attributes of recreation sites and activities? What do we know about how water pollution control policy affects these attributes? And, is it feasible to use the value information obtained for specific sites and/or activities to estimate the benefits of improving marine water quality? The literature establishes that some measures of pollution reduce the values of trips to beaches and that improved fishing success is valued by recreational anglers. However, there is substantial variation in value measures across studies. Welfare estimates can be sensitive to model specification and estimation. In the case of marine recreational fishing, the links between pollution control policy and the attributes of the activity that people value (catch rate) have not been established.