It might seem like a strange question, but what is the financial value of bottlenose dolphins to us humans?
After all, one of the most significant threats of the STS proposal is to the inner Moray Firth bottlenose dolphin population. The highest recorded level of activity of the resident population is in the vicinity of the Cromarty Sutors, the proposed location for STS. There is potential both for an operational impact on the dolphin population due to disturbance and also as a consequence of a spill. In turn, there are various businesses and communities that depend on this population.
Chanonry Point at Fortrose is irrefutably the most important location in Scotland for watching bottlenose dolphins from the shore. The Highland Council have recently completed a £273,000 upgrade of the location to facilitate the estimated 120,000 visitors per annum that use the site.[1] There has been no specific study to date of the economic value of the new facility, however, many visitors will be local day trippers but many will also make special visits to watch or photograph the dolphins from further afield, staying locally –eating in local restaurants, spending in local shops, and bring economic benefit to the area. No specific economic study has been undertaken on the value to the local economy or the split between, locals, day trippers and holidaymakers, but it is a similar activity to visiting a bird reserve and it is therefore fair to use average figures such as those compiled by the RSPB when considering the value to their reserves[2], which equates to £70.93 per visit (based on 2009 figures). This represents an injection of £8.5million per annum into the Highland economy and sustaining some 300 jobs.
Then theres the Scottish Dolphin Centre at Spey Bay, which receives more than 100,000 visitors per annum.[3] Based on the RSPB figure as used for Chanonry point, this represents an input of approximately £7.1 million per annum.
A study was commissioned in 2010, that placed the total value of Scottish east coast dolphin population related tourism at £10.4 million per annum with £4 million being solely attributable due to presence of dolphins.[4] Given the visit numbers using Chanonry Point and Spey Bay presently this report is now considerably out of date and, notable the survey on which it was based was undertaken during a recession – levels of disposable income have risen in the intervening years as have the awareness of the population due to increased media exposure. It is therefore likely that this figure is a gross underestimate. The regular filming of the population for TV programs such as BBC’s Coast or Highlands – Scotland’s Wild Heart in themselves bring economic benefit while filming but also pull in ever more tourists in year on year.
A variety of businesses and directly depend on the dolphin population – Ecoventures in Cromarty, the Aigas Field Centre who regularly visit Cromarty to observe, ,Avoch dolphin trips, Dolphin Spirit in Inverness, North 58o sea adventure in Findhorn in addition to academic institutions in the form of the Aberdeen University Lighthouse Field Station. All are local employers, spending money locally whether its fuel for boats, use of local shops or supply chain businesses.
Ecoventures, based in Cromarty is a good case in point – employing 2 full time and 2 part time staff and using a wide range of local services for maintenance and supplies for the season. This includes local chandlers such as Caley Marina and Gael Force, hardware providers such as MacGregors and HIS, dues to the local harbour, business rates for their onshore premises to the Highland Council, through to web design companies and brochure distribution agents. The local garage in Jemimaville is used for all their fuel which is considerable when running twin 150hp outboards, several trips a day for the 7 month season. In addition to this several thousand visitors a year come to Cromarty to use the service, all attracted by the chance to see bottlenose dolphins, whales and seabirds at close quarters in their natural unspoilt habitat. Many of these tourists, spend time shopping and eating in Cromarty, some will stay in Cromarty and many will stay in Inverness and surrounding area. A number of visitors are drawn by the increasing media exposure in relation to the dolphin population. Conservatively, this business is worth in excess of £750,000 to the local economy and may support 30 additional jobs. Without the dolphins Ecoventures and all the other dolphin watching businesses would not exist.
Another example, is the Lighthouse Field Station. They bring in around £250,000 per annum in contracts which sustains the jobs of 2.5 fte staff and covers core running costs. In addition there are 2.5fte core Aberdeen University staff based there and an additional full-time post graduate student – 6fte in total. Furthermore the field station is used for undergraduate and M.Sc. taught courses, with approximately 100 bed nights for field course and up to 4 students each spending 3 months in Cromarty undertaking projects. Up to a further 50 bed nights per annum can be accounted for through meetings held at the field station and by visitors with up to a further 100 day visitors who will be taken to Sutor Creek, the local bakery or other local shops to buy Cromarty beer or Dutch cheese. In addition to this, there is expenditure by families and friends of staff and students. Then there is the impact of public engagement – on average the field station works with at least one BBC Radio or TV programme a year which raise public awareness and draws visitors to the area. Taking account off all of the above, the value to the highland economy again must be well in excess of £750,000 with a further 30 indirect jobs being sustained. Without the dolphins, arguably, there would be no field station.
Totalling it all up, we think the dolphin population is worth at least £19.4million per annum to the Highland and Moray economy , sustaining at least 750 direct and indirect jobs. This is likely to be a gross underestimate – this is not meant to be a precise study, but purely to give indicative figures to build a picture of the value of the Inner Moray Firth bottlenose dolphin population. These are high quality local jobs that in turn sustain local jobs. Tourist related businesses bring visitors to the area, they eat in local restaurants, stay in local hotels and B&B’s, drink in local pubs and make purchase from local shops – all this sustains jobs. This economic value of the dolphin population must be seen in the light of the current STS proposal – worth only £0.5 million, bringing no new jobs, threatening the viability of the bottlenose dolphin population and the viability of the business and jobs that depend on them.
[1] Highland Council Press Release: http://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/9138/improvement_works_to_commence_at_chanonry_point
[2] RSPB 2011: Reserves and Local Economies – :https://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/reserves_localeconomies_tcm9-290937.pdf
[3] http://www.insidemoray.com/whale-and-dolphin-centre-is-family-venue-of-the-year/
[4] http://www.morayfirth-partnership.org/assets/files/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20The%20Value%20of%20Tourism%20Expenditure%20related%20to%20the%20East%20of%20Scotland%20.pdf
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