Above: Sterling State Park Beach, Monroe, MI Source: pinterest.com, 2012.
Lake Erie has historically bolstered nearby economies, through shipping routes, fishing and mineral extraction, ship-building, ecotourism, and industry, aiding in the establishment of many important recreational and industrial cities, such as Erie, PA, Cleveland and Toledo, OH, and Detroit, MI. The lake benefits the nearby local and state economies in both direct ways, such as jobs and industry and indirect ways, such as ecotourism and recreation.
As of 2014, Lake Erie directly provides 47,225 jobs in Ohio, and 19,389 in Michigan. The breakdown of the 'ocean economy' employment per state is presented in the table below (table 1).
Table 1: Ocean Economy Employment, Michigan & Ohio, 2014. Source: "Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW)," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, 22 Feb 2016.
The lake and it's related industries contributed $1.046 billion to Michigan's GDP and $2.6 billion dollars to Ohio's GDP in 2014, and produced $589.7 million and $1.1 billion in wages per year, respectively (ENOW, 2016). ENOW reports that there are 979 establishments in Michigan and 2,165 in Ohio in the industries delineated in table 1.
Ecotourism has a major impact on the nearby area, especially its economy. Ecotourism refers to tourism directed towards the natural environment (Nature Conservancy, 2017). An example of ecotourism vibrant in the western basin of Lake Erie is tourism to the small, historic islands off Ohio's northern coast, such as Put-In-Bay, Catawba Island, and Kelley's Island. Access to the lake offers areas for recreational activities such as swimming, sport-fishing, historic island tours, and boating. The Lake Erie shoreline of Ohio attracts an estimated 1.5 million anglers and hunters who spend $2 billion dollars annually.
Harmful or unnatural levels of cyanobacterial algal blooms, as seen increasingly frequent in the past two decades, can have dampening effects on the local economy. Algal build-up can cause intake pipes and systems to get clogged, wasting time resources and potentially necessitating repair and replacement costs. Water subject to these harmful algal blooms is also associated with increased costs of treatment processes, in order to meet the World Health Organization and the federal government's requirements for safe drinking water.