Marine estate economic valuation and benefits monitoring

Whilst we know that the marine estate is a major contributor to the NSW economy, we have not been able to measure that value consistently across the many sectors that make up our marine economy (such as tourism, commercial fishing and recreational fishing).

The Marine Estate Economic Valuation project is a multi-stage project that aims to develop consistent and robust valuation models and metrics that can be applied across multiple sectors and be repeated over time.

The three key stages of this project are:

1. Economic value – estimates the market contribution of the marine estate to the NSW economy. This work has now been completed with the production of the NSW marine estate economic contribution and market insights report.
2. Natural Capital Accounting (also known as environmental-economic accounting) – aims to integrate economic and environmental data to provide a more comprehensive and multipurpose view of the interrelationships between the economy and the environment, and the stocks and changes of environmental assets (such as reefs, seagrass and mangroves), as they bring benefits to the community.
3. Social and Cultural Value – aims to estimate marine estate ecosystem service benefits and where appropriate, monetise the social and cultural values they provide.

This project will:

• aid transparent and evidence-based decision making to support ongoing investment in marine estate management
• demonstrate the significant value of the marine and coastal environment to the people and economy of NSW
• establish baseline economic data to fill knowledge gaps and help monitor the condition and trends in the economic health and benefits of the marine estate
• inform our understanding of the loss or decline of marine industries, which was identified as a moderate risk in the state-wide Threat and Risk Assessment (TARA) and provides consistency of metrics allowing comparison between industries
• assess the effectiveness of the Marine Estate Management Strategy economic projects.

Visit an accessible version of the economic map for NSW Marine Estate.

Statewide

Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development – Fisheries

• NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (NSW DCCEEW)
• Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure – Planning (DPHI)
• Transport for NSW (TfNSW)

• NSW marine estate economic contribution and market insights report
• NSW Marine Estate economic map (PDF, 1788.11 KB)