Valuing Bag Limits in the North Carolina Charter Boat Fishery with Combined Revealed and Stated Preference Data

We use telephone survey data on charter boat anglers to estimate demand models to value snapper-grouper and king mackerel bag limits in the North Carolina for-hire fishery. The telephone survey presents respondents with hypothetical situations about higher charter fees and lower snapper-grouper and king mackerel bag limits and asks about the number of trips they would take in each situation. Stated preference trip responses are used in a jointly estimated revealed and stated preference demand model. We find that reduction in the snapper-grouper bag limit from 15 fish to 7 fish would reduce the annual aggregate value of charter boat fishing by 29% due to quality effects. The reduction in the snapper-grouper bag limit would reduce the number of charter boat fishing trips by 25% and aggregate economic value an additional 25% million. Key Words: recreation demand, revealed preference, stated preference, charter fishing