 he Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority holds conservation of the Great Barrier Reef as its primary objective. At the same time the management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park involves managing for sustainable multiple use while allowing for economic development. From an economic perspective the management for sustainable multiple use involves the equitable allocation of the Park's resources between competing users as well as the ongoing maintenance of these resources. Economic information gathered on various user groups in the Marine Park is a useful tool for ensuring equitable resource allocation decisions via zoning and management plans. To inform the Authority on the impacts of the different user groups, Sally Driml, Senior Environmental Economist of Kinhill Economics was commissioned to estimate the gross financial value of the major direct uses of the Marine Park for the 1995-96 financial year. Data estimated for 1996 were compared with the results of a similar exercise undertaken for 1991-92, as reported in Protection for Profit (Driml 1994). The major direct uses as reported by Driml in Dollar Values and Trends of Major Direct Uses of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park are commercial tourism, commercial fishing and recreational fishing and boating. Where possible the financial values for 1995-96 have been compared to previous years to examine trends. The financial values calculated for this period are also compared to funding for day-to-day management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. All estimates in the report are approximations based on data available from existing sources. In many cases, the available data was not sufficiently disaggregated, or of proven accuracy, to allow for anything but broad estimates and are to be considered 'order of magnitude' only. A summary of the findings of Driml's report is presented below. 1. Commercial tourismAccording to the Authority tourism accounts for the main commercial use of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, attracting over 1.5 million visitors to the area each year.In Driml's report commercial tourism consists of:
Expenditure on commercial tourism for the 1995-96 financial year converted to June 1996 dollars is reported in table 1. These figures for 1995-96 are not directly comparable with 1991-92 expenditure figures due to changes in the data collection methods.
2. Commercial fishingThe gross economic value of commercial fishing is the value of product landed, which is a function of the volume of catch and the price received for the product. While catch is recorded in the Log Book program run by the Queensland Fisheries Management Authority, complete information on the volume of catch from the Great Barrier Reef Region in 1996 was not available for this study. Comparisons were made between catches in 1991-92 and 1996 for some major species. The total catch of king prawns plus tiger prawns in 1996 was 1.6 times that of 1991-92, and the volume of four major species of fish caught in 1996 was 1.2 times that of 1992. However, Log Book data show that catches of fish and prawns are variable from year to year, so the conclusion that catch volumes are increasing should not be drawn from these data. Records of prices for landed seafood kept by the Department of Primary Industries show average prices remaining steady over the period, therefore declining in real terms. In the absence of complete data on catch volume for 1996, the value of catch in 1991-92 was used for this report, inflated to 1996 dollars as illustrated in table 2. This provides an order of magnitude estimate of the likely value of commercial fishing in 1996.
3. Recreational fishing and boatingThe third major economic activity conducted in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park is recreational fishing and boating.Estimated expenditure on recreational fishing and boating is reported in table 3 indicating a real increase in expenditure over this period.
Combined valueThe combined value of the three main direct uses of the Marine Park is shown in table 4, indicating a total gross financial value of $912 million.
TrendsWhen a comparison is made between the current gross financial values ($912 million) recorded in table 4 and the probable value for 1991-92 ($723 million in 1991-92 dollars, which represents $803 million in 1996 dollars)1 Driml observed the following trends:
Day-to-day management fundingDay-to-day management funding is required to maintain the resources that produce these gross financial values from direct use as well as other values gained from indirect uses.Table 5 reports the actual expenditure on day-to-day management for the Marine Park for the years 1991-92 and 1996-97 indicating an increase of only 5.4% in real terms. The calculated increase in the value of direct uses of the reef over the same period is reported by Driml to be 13.5% in real terms. These figures indicate that expenditure on the management of the Marine Park has not kept pace with the increase in value of direct uses of the area.
Copies of Sally Driml's report entitled Dollar Values and Trends of Major Direct Uses of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park can be obtained by phoning Kim Davis at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority on (07) 4750 0814. ReferenceDriml, S 1994, Protection for Profit: Economic and Financial Values of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and Other Protected Areas, Research Publication No. 35, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Townsville.
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Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
PO Box 1379 TOWNSVILLE QLD 4810. Phone: (07) 4750 0700, Fax: (07) 4772 6093
E-mail: registry@gbrmpa.gov.au
results from the data collection program instituted in 1993-94 are consistently lower, and
it is probably that visitor numbers in 1991-92 were approximately 1.4
million. The value of $723 million for 1991-92 has been estimated on the basis of 1.4 million visitors.