The New Localism

What is the new localism?

a wave rider in the White House

A new twist on the surfer stereotype...



Not only is Obama the first African American to become the President of the United States, he's also the first President who can legitimately body surf!

Next time someone disparages a surfer, you can remind them of this.

Beach Closed

I woke up early this morning (thanks in part to the time change) to check the surf at my local beach. I was hoping that is swell would be showing:



Sadly, when I got down to the overlook, I was reminded that Laguna just experienced a massive 480,000 gallon sewage spill and the beaches were still closed.

That got me to thinking about all the surfers in town who wouldn't be surfing in Laguna this weekend. These surfers would either skip their surf session (like me) or would have to travel out of town to other surfing areas. In economic speak - they would either have lost the value of a surf session or would incur a higher travel cost to go somewhere else, which will reduce their consumer surplus (stoke) assuming all other things being equal (surf quality, etc.).

In February of 1990, the American Trader, dumped over 400,000 gallons of oil in the waters off of Huntington Beach. The spill closed 14 miles of beach for 34 days. Eight years and a ten week trial later a jury awarded the State of California $18 million. To arrive at that figure economists on both sides of the issue used the Travel Cost Method to estimate the non-market value of lost beach and surf recreation. (Click here for an surf-centric explanation).

Here are some numbers from the calculations:

Surfing Trips Lost: 28,290
Value of those trips: $18.75
Total consumer surplus lost: $530,438

Surf trips diverted to substitute site: 28,148
Extra cost associated with going to other site: $12.00
Total consumer surplus lost: $337,776

Back to the sewer spill, I wonder how much lost value did surfers in Laguna suffer from due to the beach closure?

Detailed information on the American Trader spill can be found in the following paper:

Chapman, D. J. and W. M. Hanneman (2001). Environmental Damages In Court: The American Trader Case. The Law and Economics of the Environment. A. Heyes: 319-367.

STW releases Mundaka surf economics study

Mundaka is a town whose economy relies heavily on surf tourism, and in 2005 the wave was temporarily lost due to river dredging for a large ship-building project.

“This study provides evidence of not just the environmental value of a Mundaka, but of the economic value as well, reinforcing the notion that it and other spots like it need to be protected.”

The study was conducted by graduate student Melissa Murphy of the University of Oregon’s College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, with the help of Maria Bernal from Autonoma University Madrid, and was commissioned by Save The Waves Coalition.

Summary of Key Findings:

1) At higher visitation levels, surfing and the wave at Mundaka has an estimated positive economic impact of up to $4.5 million per year to the local economy – in a town of approximately 1,900 people.1

2) Surfing at Mundaka adds up to $1.5 million in annual personal income to the local population, and supports up to 95 jobs.1

3) A majority of survey respondents claimed they would no longer visit Mundaka if the wave there were significantly degraded.

4) Local businesses estimated that up to 40% of their customers are surfers or surf spectators, and that the loss of business due to the degradation of the wave and the cancellation of the Billabong Pro contest could be as high as 50%.2

You can check out Melissa's presentation on this research here.

$300 to fly with your surfboard!

After a decade of booming and relatively cheap surf travel, prices are quickly rising. While good for reducing the overall carbon footprint of traveling surfers, increased prices may have dramatic affects on the surfer-based economies of many "towns that surfing built".

This just in from Wired Magazine: Delta jacks their surfboard price up to $300 per board for travel!


Surfers feel singled out because golf bags, skis and other equipment still flies for free.

Check out a petition on the issue here.

Surfenomics: Trestles & Superbanks

As part of their latest green issue Surfing magazine wrote this feature comparing the economics impacts of Trestles and Superbanks.

Click here for a readable version of the page

Bring Back Kirra

Save Trestles

Surfline does Surf Econ 101

Check out an interview about surf economics on Surfline.