Southeast Marine Recreational Fishery Statistical Survey: Distance and Catch Based Choice Sets.

In this paper we estimate the economic value associated with marine recreational fishing in the southeast United States using the random utility model. The data used is the Southeast (North Carolina to Louisiana) Marine Recreational Fishery Statistics Survey (SE MRFSS). The geographic extent of the market and potential catch are used to determine the effect of choice set definition on random utility model parameter and welfare estimates. We find that choice sets based on distance or catch do not lead to large differences in the compensating variation of a fishing trip. Defining choice sets based on catch does lead to insignificant estimates of the effect of one measure of site quality on site selection. We also find differences in the value of an additional fish when comparing alternative measures of site quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]