Snapshot of marine economic impacts in and around Collier County

Economic impacts measure the level of economic activity in a given area. They may be viewed in terms of: (1) business output (or sales volume), (2) value added (or gross regional or domestic product), (3) business taxes, (4) personal income (including wages) or (5) jobs. Any of these measures can be an indicator of economic well-being (source: Economic Development Research Group, 1997). Below is a snapshot of the marine recreational and commercial industries and activities in Collier County (and surrounding areas) and their economic consequences and impacts.

Recreational Saltwater Fishing Activities

• In 2010, 26,275 recreational saltwater fishing licenses were purchased in Collier County resulting in over $ 4.7 million dollars in sales. In addition over 2,000 special endorsements such as snook and lobster permits and tarpon tags were purchased with an estimated value of  over $21,300.  (source: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission – FWC).
• Charter captains in Collier County purchased 221 fishing licenses for either the captain or vessel in groups of 4 or less, 6 or less, 10 or less or 11 or more passengers resulting in over $60,130 in sales (source: FWC).
•  Fishermen and divers who use southwest Florida’s artificial reefs sites spend over $253 million in the region annually. (source: Florida Sea Grant)
• Expenditures on artificial reef-related activities in Southwest Florida generated almost $227million in economic outputs that supported over 2,500 full- and parttime jobs.
• In southwest Florida (Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Desoto, Lee and Collier counties) recreational fishing activities resulted in $1.3 billion in sales and supported 14,530 jobs in 2007 (source: FWC and NOAA Marine Fisheries)  
•  In the 2010/2011 fiscal year, over 1.2 million individuals bought a saltwater recreational fishing license including more than 860,000 Florida residents and 394,000 non-residents. Total revenue for all marine recreational fishing license sales was over $25 million. (source:FWC)
• Recreational fishing resulted in over $5 billion in economic impacts and supported approximately 50,000 jobs during 2009 (source: FWC).

Commercial  Fishing Activities

• 171 commercial fishermen held saltwater products licenses in Collier County during 2008/09. There were 20 wholesale dealers, and 93 retail dealers over the same period (source: FWC).
• Over 1.5 million pounds of  seafood products were landed by commercial fishermen in  Collier County in 2010. Of this amount, 608,000 pounds were stone crab claws worth an estimated $5.5 million in dockside value (source: FWC)
• San Carlos Island shrimp harvesting and processing resulted in $54.9 million in economic impact for Lee County and supported 1,555 jobs in 1998 (source: Florida Sea Grant).
• In Florida commercial fishing and seafood production resulted in $12.9 billion in sales and support-ed 64,744 jobs during 2009 (source: NOAA Fisheries of the US).

 

Boating Activities

• 21,691 vessels were registered in Collier County in 2010 (source: Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles – DHSMV).
•  In Florida, boaters spent $3.4 billion on boating trips in 2007 and $5.2 billion in watercraft expenses, which together supported 97,000 jobs. The economic effect of these same activities in southwest Florida (Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Desoto, Manatee) was $483 million in trip spending, $825 million in watercraft spending, together supporting 14.530 jobs (source: FWC)

Economic Summary

• In 2009, there were over 10,000 people employed by 616 marine/coastal-related establishments in Collier County who earned over $270 million in wages with a GDP of over $618 million. (source: NOAA's State of the Coast)
• Florida’s coastal counties account for 79% of the state’s overall economic productivity (source: National Oceans Economic Program, 2010).