Ecotourism on the Delaware Bay
Shorebird/Horseshoe crab tourist spend $34 million in NJ each year
Nationally Birding is the second largest and fastest growing outdoor activity
On Delaware Bay tourists said they would not return if numbers fell more than 50%
Notes:
Ironically, the people of the Delaware Bay are also threatened. The tourism generated by the shorebirds is valuable because it occurs at a time of year when the people of Cumberland and Cape May counties need it most, in the spring, outside of the regular tourist season. Our studies have shown that this increasingly popular attraction will slowly erode if the population of crabs or birds decline.