Potential changes in the recreational use value for Coastal Bay of Plenty, New Zealand due to oil spills: A combined approach of the travel cost and contingent behaviour methods

New Zealand is an island nation with an extensive coastline. Subsequently, marine water-based recreational activities are important to New Zealanders and bring income to coastal communities. Pollution events, such as marine oil spills, are incidents that can negatively impact the water quality and the recreational use of the New Zealand coastline. To improve the information base for informing maritime policies, and estimate the likely impacts of an oil spill to coastal areas of New Zealand, this study examined the potential impacts on recreational value with three oil spill scenarios at a stretch of beach in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Using a combined approach of travel cost and contingent behaviour methods revealed that the consumer surplus of a visit to the beach by domestic visitors was approximately NZD 121 per person. The approach allowed assessment of the likely use of the beach under differing potential oil spill impacts restricting various marine-based recreational activities. A small oil spill with occasional traces of oil but no restrictions on recreational activities decreased the value to NZD 29.74. A moderate oil spill restricting only fishing, surfing, and swimming decreased the value to NZD 9.83. A severe oil spill stopping all recreational use decreased the value to NZD 4.30. When these recreational losses are combined with known clean-up costs and direct use losses in fisheries and tourism, the total direct use loss to a coastal area like this stretch of beach in the Bay of Plenty, where the MV Rena spill occurred in 2011, could be over NZD (2011) 111 million, of which NZD (2011) 66.14 million is recreational visitor use alone. This estimate allows consideration for the entire direct use values lost that an oil spill could have to a coastal community and to New Zealand as a whole.