**STUDY TITLE**: Southwest Florida Shelf Coastal Ecological
Characterization.

**REPORT TITLE**: Florida Coastal Ecological Characterization: A
Socioeconomic Study of the Southwestern Region. 

**CONTRACT NUMBER(S)**: BLM: MU0‑48; MMS: 14‑12‑0001‑30036.

**SPONSORING OCS REGION**: Gulf of Mexico.

**APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA(S)**: Straits of Florida; Eastern Gulf of
Mexico.

**FISCAL YEAR(S) OF PROJECT FUNDING**: 1980; 1981; 1982; 1983.

**COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT**: August 1983.

**COST(S)**: FY 1980: \$390,973; FY 1981: \$350,000; FY 1982: \$200,000;
FY 1983: 150,000.

**CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST**: \$1,090,973.

**PROJECT MANAGER(S)**: J. Johnston.

**AFFILIATION**:  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

**ADDRESS**: 1010 Gause Boulevard, Slidell, Louisiana 70458.

**PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR(S)\***: C. French, J. Parsons.

**KEY WORDS**: Straits of Florida; Eastern Gulf; Southwest Florida
Shelf; Florida; baseline; socioeconomics; population; demographics;
development; minerals; pollution; tourism; recreation; commercial
fishing; agriculture; recreational fishing; transportation; modeling;
literature review; synthesis.

**BACKGROUND**: This study is one of a series of characterizations of
coastal socioeconomic systems produced and funded jointly by the
Minerals Management Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  The
series describes components and interrelationships among complex
processes that include population and demographic characteristics,
mineral production, multiple‑use conflicts, recreation and tourism,
agricultural production, sport and commercial fishing, transportation,
industrial and residential development, and environmental issues and
regulations.  This report and data appendix should prove useful for
coastal planning and management.

**OBJECTIVES**: (1) To compile and synthesize information from existing
sources about social and economic characteristics of the southwestern
coastal region of Florida.

**DESCRIPTION**: The study is a compilation and synthesis of information
from existing sources about the social and economic characteristics of
the southwestern coastal region of Florida, including Charlotte,
Collier, DeSoto, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Monroe, Pasco, Pinellas,
and Sarasota Counties.  Individual authors have contributed sections in
Volume I on the following topics: (1) population and demographic
characteristics; (2) transportation; (3) residential and industrial
development; (4) socioeconomic trends in agriculture; (5) mineral and
oil resources; (6) recreation and tourism; (7) commercial and sport
fisheries; (8) multiple‑use conflicts; (9) environmental issues and
regulations; and (10) energetics models of socioeconomic systems. 
Volumes II‑IV are data appendices with tables and figures from existing
sources on the topics listed above.

**SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS**: Offshore oil and gas development, deepwater
ports, processing and shipping of petroleum products, and other Outer
Continental Shelf (OCS)‑related activities potentially have major
environmental, economic, and social impacts on the region\'s coastal
wetlands, natural resources, and communities.  A major environmental
threat is the potential for oil spills during drilling and
transportation activities.  A major spill could be devastating because
of the vulnerable coastal environment and the region\'s heavy reliance
on tourism.  Intensive OCS exploration and development usually generates
new onshore activity that causes additional environmental, economic, and
social impacts.

**STUDY RESULTS**: The study area population is made up of a relatively
high proportion of elderly persons.  Much of their income is from
outside the region, or from social security, pensions, and retirement
funds.  For this reason, and also due to limited employment
opportunities, the labor force tends to be lower than the State
average.  Study area family and per capita income are slightly below
that of the State because of the high percentage of older persons, high
unemployment, and several seasonal fluctuations in employment.  Net
migration has caused a study area population increase between 1950 and
1980.  In general, the region is heavily populated, urban oriented, and
fast growing.  Median school years completed is about the same as for
the State.  Transportation systems reviewed included seaports, airports,
railroads, highways, bus transits, and pipelines.  Two major (Tampa and
Manatee) and three medium (St. Petersburg, Boca Grande, and Key West)
seaports exist in the region.  The region has three commercial and 24
smaller public airports.  The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad provides the
only rail freight service to the region.  Interstate Highway 75 (I‑75)
is the major regional north‑south highway.  Greyhound and Trailways have
regional intercity bus routes.  Major pipelines in the region are
privately owned and serve primarily for transport of natural gas. 
Southwestern Florida is characterized by urban centers that sprawl
outward over former farmlands, coastal areas with condominiums and
time‑sharing units, and residential developments.  The region contains
one‑quarter of the State\'s population and had a population growth
between 1970 and 1980 of 51.1%.  Most of the population growth was and
is along the coast of the Tampa Bay area, Sarasota, Venice, Port
Charlotte, Fort Myers, Sanibel and Captiva Islands, Naples, and the
Keys.  Inland from the coast, growth and change are much slower, but are
still apparent.  Except for the Tampa Bay area, regional growth is
oriented toward recreation and retirement and associated services. 
Agriculture in Florida has traditionally been a major source of income
and employment.  Employment in forest and agricultural production and
agricultural support services has risen from about 91,646 employees in
1963 to 127,589 in 1978.  From 1954 to 1978, real agricultural income
(1967 dollars) rose 145%.  Warm climate and abundant rainfall has given
Florida farmers advantage over other states.  The region is among the
State\'s principal citrus, vegetable, beef cattle, and egg producing
areas.  Phosphate clearly is the predominant mineral in the study area,
but data on amounts and value of production are not publicly available. 
Production is high in Polk, Hillsborough, and Hardee Counties but
significant quantities may exist on the continental shelf off
Clearwater.  Other minerals of regional importance are peat, limestone,
cement, sand, oil, and uranium (a by‑product of phosphate production). 
Because of nondisclosure rules, gaining information on mineral
industries is difficult.

Recreation is a major use characteristic in the study area.  Coastal
recreation per capita is 10 days annually.  Sportfishing attracts
millions of residents and out‑of‑state saltwater anglers.  Hunting,
surfing, boating, skindiving, beach recreation, and nature studies are
popular coastal activities.  In recent decades, demand for recreation
has been increasing, but opportunities are declining.  Only a small
fraction of the region\'s coastline is now available for public
recreation and many areas are being developed for other uses.

Over 100 species of finfish and shellfish are caught by commercial and
sport fishermen in southwestern Florida.  Commercial statistics exist
but little information is available for sport catches.  The many and
diverse estuarine and coastal habitats support the extensive fisheries.

As the region\'s population increases, socioeconomic/environmental
conflicts associated with this growth increase.  Development of
institutional procedures for responding to failures of the private
enterprise system to consider environmental planning is difficult. 
Enforcing regulations to control or reduce ecological damage may be
prohibitively expensive.  Trade‑offs between the economy and the
environment will depend on society\'s evaluation of the need for
maintaining viable coastal ecosystems as opposed to further residential
and industrial development.  Local government zoning commissions may
become instrumental in developing balances among needs.

Regional air and water (surface and groundwater) quality are monitored
and regulated by Federal, State, and local agencies.  Over the past few
decades, extensive areas of regional interior wetlands and uplands have
been dredged, drained, and diked resulting in major alterations of
coastal wetlands.  These alterations have caused changes in habitat
composition, reduced the abundance of detritus and other nutrient
sources, decreased dissolved oxygen concentrations, increased coliform
counts, reduced natural purification of runoff, and increased erosion. 
Competition for available groundwater for public, agricultural,
industrial, and commercial consumption is a growing problem.

The energetics model provides a method for integration processes and
components of natural and socioeconomic production.  Energy circuit
models are evaluated by measuring the quantity of energy flowing in a
particular pathway or stored in the system.  Because all activities,
interactions, and even storages require or represent energy, it is
possible and practical to quantify a particular pathway by its energy
value.

**STUDY PRODUCT(S)**: French, C. O. and J. W. Parsons (eds.).  1983. 
Florida Coastal Ecological Characterization: A Socioeconomic Study of
the Southwestern Region.  A final report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service for the U.S. Department of the Interior,

Minerals Management Service Gulf of Mexico OCS Office, Metairie, LA. 
Vol. I (Text, 333 pp.)‑NTIS No. PB84‑174119; Vol. II (Data Appendix,
Part 1, 294 pp.)‑NTIS No. PB84‑174101; Vol. III (Data Appendix, Part 2,
359 pp.)‑NTIS No. PB84‑174093; Vol. IV (Data Appendix, Part 3,
196 pp.)‑NTIS No. PB84‑174127.  Contract No. 14‑12‑0001‑30036. 333 pp.

**\*P.I.\'s affiliation may be different than that listed for Project
Manager(s).**