Name One Reason I Should Care About Coral Reefs?
Anglers, divers, and other reef-users spent $4.395 billion in one year, employing some 75,700 people. Reef-related activities employ approximately 81,300 people in four counties.
G. M. Johns, V. R. Leeworthy, F. W. Bell, and M. A. Bonn.
Broward County, along with a host of federal, state, and private partners have conducted a comprehensive study of the reef-related economy of southeast Florida. A synopsis of their report findings is below.
How many people are using natural and artificial reefs in southeast Florida?
Visitors and residents spent 28 million person-days [number representing total users for the given time span] using artificial and natural reefs in southeast Florida during the 12-month period from June 2000 to May 2001. Reef users spent 10 million person-days using artificial reefs and 18 million person-days using natural reefs.
How much money do those reef-users spend?
Reef-related expenditures generated $505 million in sales in Palm Beach County, $2.1 billion in sales in Broward County, $1.3 billion in sales in Miami-Dade County, and $490 million in sales in Monroe County during the 12-month period from June 2000 to May 2001. These sales resulted in $194 million in income to Palm Beach County residents, $1.1 billion in income to Broward County residents, $614 million in income to Miami-Dade County residents, and $139 million in income to Monroe County residents during the same time period.
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| Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission |
How many Florida residents are employed using reef-user’s money?
Reef-related expenditures provided 6,300 jobs in Palm Beach County, 36,000 jobs in Broward County, 19,000 jobs in Miami-Dade County, and 10,000 jobs in Monroe County.
How much money are reef-users willing to pay for protection of reef resources?
Visitor and resident reef-users in all four counties are willing to pay $255 million per year to maintain southeast Florida's artificial and natural reefs in their current condition by maintaining water quality, limiting damage to reefs from anchoring, and preventing overuse of the reefs. When the projects to protect the artificial and natural reefs are considered separately, visitor and resident reef-users in all four counties are willing to pay $85 million per year to protect the artificial reefs and $228 million per year to protect the natural reefs in southeast Florida.
What about politically controversial “no-take" zones, where fishing is completely prohibited? Do reef-users favor “no-take" zones?
A majority of resident reef-users endorse the idea of “no-take” zones in their county and in the other southeast Florida counties. A majority of residents would support “no- take” zones on 20 to 25 percent of the existing natural reefs. About 75 percent of respondents in all counties supported the existing “no-take” zones in the Florida Keys. About 60 percent of respondents supported “no-take” zones in their own counties, and about the same percentage supported “no-take” zones on some of the reefs in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.
The 13-page Executive Summary is available through the Broward County Web site: http://www.co.broward.fl.us//bio/bri01714.pdf . The Summary says it all, but interested readers will need to delve into the 348 page (10.5 MB) Final Project Report for some important definitions.
Johns, G. M., V. R. Leeworthy, F. W. Bell, and M. A. Bonn. 2001. Socio-Economic Study of Reef Resources in Southeast Florida and the Florida Keys. Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection. Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
