By Julia Robins, Staff Writer
There’s been a lot of talk recently about rezoning waterfront property in Northampton County—leaving those who depend on water access concerned, and those involved with county planning wondering: How important is water access to my community?
It turns out that businesses in Northampton County that depend on water access generated $97.4 million and supported 987 jobs in 2013, according to a recently released report by Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and Virginia Sea Grant (VASG).
“If nothing else, I hope this report will get people to think of the tradeoffs associated with different land-use decisions,” says Tom Murray, VIMS extension staff affiliated with VASG, who wrote the report. “Putting those land-use and environmental issues into terms people can understand—like income, jobs, and value-added sales—tends to make a lot more sense to people.”
The growth of the shellfish aquaculture industry in Northampton County has added immense value to the Virginia’s seafood marketplace. Currently, there are six active private hard clam and oyster hatcheries in Northampton County.
“In terms of shellfish aquaculture,” says Murray, Northampton County “is a clear leader among other Virginia regions.”
Since 2006, Murray has conducted annual shellfish industry aquaculture crop reporting based on annual surveys of licensed commercial shellfish growers.
The surveys found that in 2013, Northampton County shellfish farms sold over $36.7 million in clams and oysters, and commercial fishermen unloaded over $5.7 million in wild caught finfish and shellfish for a total of $42,496,494 of seafood products across the county’s waterfronts.
Taking into consideration the related additional economic growth throughout the community, Murray’s recent report estimates the industry’s 2013 economic impact at $97.4 million in output, which supported 987 jobs that generated household and business incomes of $27.1 million.
Quantifying the value of working waterfronts in Northampton County in this way is important, says Murray. Working waterfronts are critical for water-dependent business; In addition to access points where watermen can offload their catch, they are also essential for waterfront businesses that support recreational boating and fishing, such as marinas or boat mechanic shops.
“With water dependent industries’ absolute reliance on water access—like fish docks and aquaculture unloading facilities—decisions relating to land use should be informed by this type of socio-economic information,” Murray says.
In the near term, Murray expects his report to help inform discussions regarding revisions in the county’s comprehensive plan and zoning regime.
