Stated Preferences of Alaska Resident Saltwater Anglers for Contemporary Regulatory Policies

Over the last several years, there have been substantial changes to the harvest regulations governing the Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, fishery off Alaska, notably in the recreational charier boat fishing sector. One change has involved anglers fishing from charter (for hire) boats being subject to increasingly restrictive harvest regulations that do not apply to other anglers. This article analyzes how the economic values that Alaska resident anglers place on charter and private boat fishing is affected by these regulations, which consist of bag and size limits. This information can be helpful to fishery managers in assessing the tradeoffs in economic benefits associated with different regulatory tools used to manage angler harvest levels. Using stated preference data from a 2012 survey, we estimate panel rank-ordered mixed logit models to estimate the economic value, or willingness to pay (WTP), Alaska resident anglers place on boat-based saltwater fishing trips in the two principal regions in which saltwater fishing occurs, Southeast Alaska and Southcentral Alaska. The results indicate that Alaska resident anglers have strong preferences for private boat fishing in both regions, with mean values ranging from $172 to over $2,000 per trip, depending upon the species targeted, the regulations, and which region the fishing occurred. Our analysis also suggests that Alaska resident anglers place much less value on charter boat fishing trips for halibut in Southcentral Alaska that are subject to the kinds of restrictive bag and harvest restrictions seen in recent years.