Environmental experts gauge 'ocean economy'

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Saturday, July 23, 2005

Environmental experts gauge 'ocean economy'

Tourism, recreation generate many low-wage jobs, agency says.

By PAT BRENNAN
The Orange County Register

California has the nation's largest "ocean economy," a new report by the State Resources Agency says, calculating the value of ocean-related economic activity at $42.9 billion in 2000.

The report, prepared for the agency by environmental scientists, is meant in part to lend support to the state's environmental efforts along the coast, including reduction of coastal pollution, conservation of marine life, and protection of beaches and other natural resources.

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The report examined six economic sectors, including coastal construction, "living resources" such as fish for fishing and seafood processing, offshore minerals, ship- and boat-building and repair, ocean transportation and ports, and coastal tourism and recreation. The report, an update of a 1994 study, also says coastal tourism and recreation dominated the state's growth in low-wage jobs, but that higher-wage ocean-related jobs declined. The ocean economy provided 408,000 jobs in 2000, along with $11.4 billion in wages and salaries.

Coastal jobs and tourism aren't the only reasons to value the ocean, the report says. In 2000, 77 percent of the state's population lived in coastal counties on only 25 percent of the state's land. The report says population density increased along the coast during the years between studies, from 217 people per square mile to 671.

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http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/07/23/sections/local/local/article_607748.php