Commerce
Coastal communities are critical components of a strong national economy. They support more than one-third of the nation’s jobs. The coast is home to more than 190 seaports that handle more than two billion tons of cargo each year. Coastal communities are also the most densely populated and fastest growing areas in the nation, and are experiencing increased pressure as 40 percent of new commercial development and 46 percent of new residential development nationwide is occurring within them. In addition, America’s coastal communities are facing the related challenges of recreation and tourism pressures, along with past haphazard development, which has resulted in the loss of green space, fragmentation of coastal habitat, degradation of water quality, and an increased vulnerability to coastal hazards.
For many people who live near the coast, their livelihood is closely tied to the water. From longshoremen in Long Beach, California, to Maine lobstermen, coastal and marine waters support 28.3 million jobs. More than 89 million Americans visit the coast each year, spending money in local hotels, restaurants, shops, and tourist services and destinations (Leeworthy and Bowker, 1997).
Coastal Economic Impacts
Soft sandy beaches, busy commercial ports, fisheries as varied as Gulf shrimp beds and Alaskan salmon runs – just as each community has an array of development and environmental characteristics, the health of its economy benefits from a balance of commercial activities unique to the community. Tourism and recreation, marine transport, commercial fisheries and aquaculture, and offshore oil and gas production provide jobs and generate over $1.5 trillion in economic activity annually.