Economic Contributions of Hawaii's Fisheries

This study will provide much needed information on the economic importance and value of the various fisheries in Hawaii. It will provide information on the linkages of the fisheries sector to the other sectors of the economy, and its relative importance compared to the other sectors in terms of outputs, employment and household income, as well as income distribution effects. It can help assess the impact of fishery regulations on various sectors of the economy as well as the impact on the fisheries sector caused by governmental actions such as the change in fishing boat fuel tax credits. This study will systematically integrate all the baseline economic information, such as the cost-earnings profiles of the commercial fleets being gathered by current PFRP projects, into the Hawaii state inter-industry or input-output economic model.

Project findings published as part of the SOEST-JIMAR publication series: "Economic Contributions of Hawaii's Fisheries", K.R. Sharma, A. Peterson, S.G. Pooley, S.T. Nakamoto, and P.S. Leung, SOEST 99-08, JIMAR Contribution 99-327

See SOEST-JIMAR Publications page for other PFRP reports

Principal Investigator:
Dr. PingSun Leung
Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics
University of Hawaii at Manoa
3050 Maile Way, Gilmore 115
Honolulu, Hawaii 96822
Phone (808) 956-8562/7039
FAX (808) 956-2811
email: psleung@hawaii.edu

Progress Report - FY 1998

P.I. NAMES: PingSun Leung, Stuart Nakamoto and Sam Pooley
PROJECT RESEARCHER: Khem Sharma
COLLABORATOR: Marcia Hamilton

Purpose of Project:

The purpose of this research is to integrate the cost-earnings information for the various commercial (longline, troll and handline, and others) and charter boat fleets, and estimated expenditure patterns of the recreational fisheries into the input-output framework to better measure the economic contributions of various fisheries sectors to Hawaii's economy. It will also provide information on the linkages of fisheries sectors to the other sectors of the economy, and their relative importance compared to the other sectors in terms of outputs, employment and household income, as well as income distribution effects. The specific objectives of the project include:

1. Systematically integrate all the baseline cost-earnings data of commercial, recreational, and charter fleets being gathered by current PFRP projects into the 1992 Hawaii State Input-Output model, the latest table available for the state;

2. Provide information on forward and backward linkages of fisheries sectors vis-a-vis the other sectors of the economy;

3. Provide information on economic importance and value of the various fishery sectors to Hawaii's economy in terms of their contributions to output, household income, and employment; and

4. Provide a systematic framework to assess the economy-wide impacts of fishery regulations as well as the impacts of other government policies on fisheries sectors based on various I-0 and SAM multipliers

Progress during FY 1998:

The 1992 Hawaii State Input-Output (I-0) Model has already been completed. Similarly, except for charter boat fleets, the various cost-earnings surveys funded by the PFRP have also been completed. The charter boat survey is planned to be completed during this summer. Additionally, to cross-check information from the above surveys and to estimate leakages of each fishery sector, i.e., their imports, as well as exports, 2 fishing supply wholesalers, 25 fishing supply retailers, 6 repair and drydock facilities, and 7 fish seafood dealers and brokers on Oahu, Big Island, and Maui have also been surveyed. This information will be used in estimating the inter-industry flow of outputs produced and inputs purchased by various fisheries sectors.

Originally, the 1992 Hawaii State I-0 table contained 118 sectors, including one commercial fishing industry (sector # 14) capturing all fisheries production activities in Hawaii, except fishery services which, following the previous I-0 tables, were included in agricultural, forestry, and fishery services (sector # 17). For the purpose of estimating economic contributions of Hawaii's fisheries, the original model has already been aggregated to about 60-sectors, including a commercial fishing industry which has, in turn, been disaggregated to four different sectors: (i) Commercial - longline; (ii) Commercial - small boat; (iii) Expense and recreational; and (iv) Charter boat. Based on cost-earnings data obtained from the fleets and additional data from fishery dealers and suppliers, preliminary task of estimating relevant production relations and expenditure patterns for the first three sectors has already been completed. The preliminary Type I (Type II) output multipliers for the first two sectors have been estimated to be 1.43 (2.31) and 1.49 (2.40), respectively. The preliminary results were presented at the Workshop on Ocean-Scale Management of Pelagic Fisheries: Economic and Regulatory Issues, East-West Center, Nov. 12-13, 1997. Since the 1992 Hawaii I-0 table lacks all information needed to calculate SAM multipliers, attempts have also been made toward the possibility of getting such information from IMPLAN.

In addition, we have also examined the level and determinants of technical efficiency of the longline fleet based on the 1993 cost-earnings survey. A technical paper has been prepared and is currently under consideration for possible publication in Marine Resource Economics. The results will also be presented at the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade '98 Biennial Conference,Tromso, Norway, July 8-11, 1998.

Plans for the next Fiscal Year:

1. Complete cost-earnings survey of charter boat fleets and estimate expenditure pattern for charter boats;

2. Rebalance the modified I-0 table with four fishery sectors;

3. Estimate a social accounting matrix (SAM) and append it to the expanded I-0 model;

4. Estimate the traditional I-0 output multipliers, income multipliers, and employment multipliers as well as the various SAM multipliers to measure income distribution effects for the four fisheries sub-sectors;

5. Calculate the forward and backward linkage indicators for the four fisheries sub-sectors and compare with other sectors in the Hawaii economy; and

6. Estimate the economic contributions of the four fisheries sub-sectors to Hawaii's economy

Other Papers, Technical Reports, etc.

This page updated August 17, 2006