The ocean economy of the United States: Measurement, distribution, & trends

Coastal managers are frequently required to consider the economic implications of their decisions, but economic data needed to support decisions is frequently lacking. This paper discusses the creation of a national data set that measures economic activity related to the oceans and Great Lakes of the U.S. Measures include employment, wages, establishments, and output. The data is derived from existing data maintained by the federal government to assure temporal and spatial consistency of measurement. The data set defines the “ocean economy” through a combination of industry and geographic location features to measure 21 separate industries in 6 sectors, at the national, state, and county levels. The data is subject to several suppression screens required to assure confidentiality of reported information. Analysis of the data for 2007 indicates that the national ocean economy of the U.S. is about 2% of U.S. employment and 1.7% of gross domestic product; it is comparable in size to other natural resource industries in the U.S. State and county level data indicate the ocean economy is largest in urban areas but is more likely to be a larger share of the economy of rural areas. The ocean economy data opens up numerous avenues for improvement in the estimation of employment and output and construction of models relating the ocean economy to changes in natural resources and to other changes in the economy.

► Consistent measurement of economic activity associated with the oceans can contribute to ocean management.
► Arranging public data is an efficient way providing information on ocean economic activity.
► In the U.S. such data shows ocean economic activity comprised 2% of employment and 1.7% of GDP.
► Economic activity can also be measured at various levels of regional and industrial detail.
► Limits in public data include data coverage and the need to protect confidentiality of individuals.