| Summary | Those who use the sanctuary for recreational purposes, including but not limited to: Scuba diving, sailing and boating, kayaking, whale watching.
California ranks second only to Florida in the number of participants in coastal recreation (17.6 million participants). While California also ranks second to Florida in the percent of its population that participates in marine recreation (10.7% for Florida, 8.7 % for California), its large population places California first in the nation in the number of residents that participate in marine recreation annually (12.2 million) (Pendleton and Rooke 2010). |
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| Project | SESMAD |
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| Subtype | Group of Local Resource User Groups |
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| Sector | Marine protected areas |
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| Interest Heterogeneity | High (3) |
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| Explanation | Many recreational users desire the same area (e.g. boaters and divers) and many users seek conflicting purposes of the sanctuary (e.g. recreational fishermen and kayakers). |
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| Costs Of Exit | Yes |
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| Explanation | Investments such as in whale watching boats, recreational boats, kayaks, storage facilities, and wharf space may be high cost to leave behind for the companies. |
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| Proportionality (Of Costs And Benefits) | Yes |
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| Explanation | Tourism is a highly lucrative industry in this area, and much of it is due to recreation within the Sanctuary. Most whale watching boats were old fishermen boats converted for tourism, and have made much more profit in the tourism industry than they did fishing. Kayaking and paddle boarding is generally low cost. Scuba diving is a popular activity with many benefits, and shore diving is a lower cost but common strategy. An estimated 4,500 to 5,000 passengers go on Farallon Islands trips annually. Average adult ticket prices around San Francisco are $60 for a half‐day trip while full‐day trips to the Farallon Islands can cost between $95 and $125. Shorter harbour trips of around 2 hours are also run and cost $30 but only offer opportunistic sightings of dolphins and porpoises. Average adult ticket prices in the Monterey Bay sanctuary for 2 to 3 hour trips are $46. Average adult ticket prices for longer trips are $86 (O'Connor et al. 2009). Travel and tourism totaled $5.9 billion in travel-spending revenue in 2003 for the five counties adjacent to the Monterey Bay National Marine sanctuary. Much of this tourism is focused on the coast and ocean protected by the sanctuary (NMS, 2014). |
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| Actor Group Coordination | Both formal and informal |
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| Explanation | Many formal activities (e.g. boat races, whale watching boats coordinating with each other, kayak clean up days) exist, but most coordination is informal (e.g. boaters on the weekend, scuba divers with own equipment). Whale watching vessels communicate amongst each other on sightings and help each other find whales. |
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| Leadership | ["No leader"] |
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| Explanation | Recreational user companies may have an owner, but there is no sole recreational user leader. |
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| Leadership Accountability | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | Informal leaders must abide by laws and make way for other users (e.g. kayakers have to watch out for whale watching boats) and any violation of law can be enforced by the correct authorities. Higher accountability for recreational fishers and avoidance of overexploitation of target species. |
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| Leadership Authority | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | Authority is given by access and ownership of equipment, however any user does not have to abide by any one leader. |
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| Actor Group Trust | Medium (2) |
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| Explanation | Since users may seek conflicting uses of the sanctuary (e.g. extraction vs observation), particularly conservationists may not trust recreational fishers. But often times these groups do not interact and often times they are the same, especially tourists who come to the area to do both. |
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| Past Collaboration | Low (1) |
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| Explanation | Often times users are focused on their particular excursion. Whale watching vessels coordinate amongst each other. Recreational fishermen communicate conditions to each other. |
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| Personal Communication | Missing |
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| Explanation | Varies widely, sometimes often sometimes never |
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| Remote Communication | Missing |
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| Explanation | Varies widely, sometimes often sometimes never |
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